


No Such Thing As Second Choices

by slashter



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Camboy Harry, Camboy Louis, Felching, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Frottage, M/M, Masturbation, Multi, Mutual Masturbation, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Threesome - M/M/M, Triad - Freeform, Webcam/Video Chat Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-20 00:29:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 29,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5986219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slashter/pseuds/slashter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Harry is the calming rain, the peaceful serenity, the cleansing fall of water that makes Liam come alive and Louis is the thunder, the lightning, crashing and booming and shaking Liam to the core.</i>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>[Or the one where Liam falls in love with two men on a computer screen; real life, however, is a lot more complicated]</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Such Thing As Second Choices

**Author's Note:**

> WOW well...another year, another big bang completed. This fic was so much fun to write and stemmed from an idea I'd been toying around with for ages. I've always wanted to write a lilourry fic because I love their dynamic and I hope that comes across in this fic!
> 
> Big shoutout to my betas, [Joei](http://popunklouis.tumblr.com) and [Amelia](http://ameliaproblems.tumblr.com), for all their help.
> 
> Also please check out [the amazing fanmix](http://8tracks.com/radioactiveblood/when-i-think-about-love-you-are-right-beside-me) for this fic by [Valeria](http://radioactiveblood-nuclearheart.tumblr.com)!
> 
> **NOTE:** the website mentioned in this fic is [BeautifulAgony](http://beautifulagony.com). It's a real website (very NSFW, though!!!) and more details about it can be found in the end notes of this fic!

\------

 

Liam’s not completely sure how he found the website.

He remembers that he had been desperate to get off, and how he hadn’t been in the mood to watch any porn about blowjobs and handjobs or anything like that, he had been--well, recently, he’d been more interested in the _sounds_ than anything. He’d just been plugging his earbuds into his laptop, googling ‘orgasm compilations’ or something like that, and then closing his eyes and jacking himself off to the noises of other people getting off.

It’s not to say that Liam doesn’t enjoy sex, he really does, but when you’re actually physically _with_ someone, it’s easier to get lost in the touches and tastes and closeness of it all. It’s passionate, even when it isn’t gentle and loving, and though Liam hasn’t been properly laid in a while--which he blames on having such a tiring job--he still appreciates the actual _act_ of sex. But there’s something about just getting lost in the noises involved that’s always turned Liam on, and sometimes when he’s fucking someone or getting fucked, even, he’ll just close his eyes and listen to the groans, the whispers and shudders and sounds of pleasure and come just from that.

So when he finds a video of multiple people getting off, short clips of them, one after the other, where they’re all laying down, he’s intrigued. You can’t see more than just their faces, usually cutting off at their shoulders, but you can still hear bits and pieces of them touching themselves, the slick sounds as they work themselves over, and, of course, the moans as they bring themselves to orgasm. It’s so _real_ \--Liam’s never seen anything like this before, watching as actual people bite their lips and suck on their fingers and cry out into their pillows. He’s absolutely amazed and it doesn’t take him long to find the source site.

It’s simple but enthralling, and the best part is that Liam doesn’t feel guilty about watching something sexual where someone involved might not be thoroughly enjoying what they’re doing, since everyone on the site is literally there just to get themselves off, they’re doing this willingly, giving consent for others to watch them come.

Liam signs up for a membership immediately, after getting himself off to some free videos he finds online, since the people who upload the videos are paid when other people watch them, and Liam feels it’s the least he can do, given what he’s doing when he watches.

 

There’s lots of different categories on the site, Liam discovers one night, as he’s scrolling through the pages, still a bit out of breath from just having an orgasm a minute earlier. There’s a whole place for people to discuss their kinks--good for them--but there’s also a link called ‘Friends’. Liam had always assumed it was just a place for you to talk to other users and maybe make friends with them on this site, but he realizes that it’s actually a subcategory in the ‘Videos’ area, and--oh. _Oh_.

All the videos in this section have two people or more. There’s gay couples, lesbian couples, straight couples, and maybe people who really are just friends, masturbating together. It’s absolutely amazing. Liam stares, enthralled, as he scrolls through thumbnail after thumbnail, and he can already feel the arousal start to stir in his gut, even though he’s just gotten off. It’s just--the idea of doing this with someone _else_ , sharing the intimacy this way, letting the world see how you kiss someone you love, the sounds they make just for you, it’s--it’s breathtaking, really, and almost flattering, too, that this couple would trust you enough to let you see them at their most vulnerable, open state, viewing their most intimate moments.

Liam spends the next half hour watching clips of couples getting off together, and by then he’s already hard again, so he just goes ahead and clicks on the next video that comes up. This one’s got two guys in it, one with long, curly hair and the other with swooping, shaggy hair. They’re both brunettes and they both have tons of chest and arm tattoos, but they’re shirtless, so Liam can see them all. He’d noticed that some other guys had worn shirts too, probably so they wouldn’t be recognized in public or anything, but these two seem to not have a care about that at all, especially with the way the curly-haired one whispers, “Louis,” about a minute into the video.

The two of them start off by making out, and pretty thoroughly, Liam must say. Louis--the shaggy-haired one--spends most of the time pulling the curly-haired one’s hair, which makes that guy moan constantly. It takes Liam a moment to realize that Louis is jacking the other guy off, but it makes sense, since not long afterwards the man lets out the lowest, loudest moan of the video so far and pulls Louis in for a kiss, his body jerking a bit as he comes.

Liam looks down and notices his own cock leaking on his abs so he grips it loosely, determined not to come before the end of the video--this one is just too good to miss out on any single detail. Louis and the other guy are making out again now, but then Louis is flipped over onto his back, groaning as the other man kisses down his chest and then out of sight of the camera but still on the bed, if Louis’ choked-off gasp is any indicator. It’s obvious that the curly-haired guy is going down on Louis now, and Liam watches as Louis plays with his own nipples, pinching them and shuddering as the other guy’s hands--which are exceptionally large, Liam notices--slide up and down his ribcage. Liam starts jacking himself off, then, wanting to time his orgasm with Louis’. The guy is gorgeous, with high cheekbones and golden, tan skin. He’s got long lashes and a slight blush on his cheeks from the work-over he’s getting, and his voice sounds reedy and raspy. Liam speeds his hand up, rubbing his thumb over his head to catch the precome there, jerking his hips forward. Louis lets out another breathy moan and reaches up, gripping his own hair in his fingers and tugging it back--Liam has the sudden desire to be right there with them, pulling Louis’ hair for him, helping him get off. It’s incredibly hot to think about, and now Liam can feel himself getting close to the edge, his hand essentially a blur on his cock, moving fast as he listens to the quieter slurps of the curly-haired guy’s mouth on Louis’ cock and the punctuated grunts from Louis’ mouth.

“Fuck,” Liam whispers, just about ready to come, and then he sees Louis’ mouth open on a cry, eyes squeezed shut as he comes. Liam lets himself go right then, shaking as he mimics Louis’ moans, his come streaking across his abdomen.

“Harry,” Louis mumbles, then, and the curly haired man comes back into view, laying down next to Louis and kissing him thoroughly. Liam can see the wetness at the corner of his mouth and can tell that Louis is tasting himself on the lips of the other guy--Harry.

The two men continue kissing lazily for another half minute or so before they smile at each other and break out into a fit of giggles. They make such a cute couple, and Liam would feel like he was intruding if he wasn’t paying to watch this video that the two of them had willingly shared online.

The screen goes black, then, and Liam sighs, combing a hand through his hair. He hadn’t expected to come twice in a row like that and now he’s thoroughly exhausted. He debates just skipping a shower and wiping himself off but the responsible side of him makes him roll out of bed and stand obediently under the hot, pounding spray of water until he’s clean. He towels himself off lazily and falls into bed.

It’s a bit sad that Liam’s jerking off so much now, maybe even more so since he’s doing it to happy-looking couples while being hilariously single himself. Liam thinks of Harry and Louis, those two beautiful men probably wrapped up in each other in bed, sharing sweet kisses before they go to sleep, waking up to each other in the morning.

He sighs and turns over, choosing to ignore how the other side of his bed always seems to be too empty and too cold.

 

\------

 

“We’re moving!” Zayn cries, as he runs over to Liam’s office. Liam scrubs his face with his hands. It’s far too early for this.

“Zaaaayn,” Liam complains. “I haven’t even had my coffee yet. What the hell are you talking about?”

“Check your fucking email,” Zayn says, walking into the room and jiggling Liam’s mouse. He types in Liam’s password easily and Liam frowns at him.

“How long have you known my password?” he asks, and Zayn rolls his eyes.

“Honestly, Liam, ‘Batman123’ isn’t too hard to figure out. Try harder next time.”

Liam blushes a bit and jabs Zayn in the ribs. Zayn just waves his hand away and pulls up Liam’s email account, pointing to the screen. “Look!”

Liam scans the email in front of him. Something about size increase... _we want our employees to have enough space to feel comfortable, not cramped_...a new building being purchased...and then Liam’s eyes widen.

“Employees on floors five and higher will be-- _moved_?” he reads aloud, surprised. He looks up to Zayn. “Oh my god.”

“You know what this means, right?”

“Um--” Liam starts, but his inbox dings with another email right then. He clicks it open.

“Liam,” he reads out loud, “upon the news of your excellent work as our multi-team co-branch manager for the past two years, coupled with the fact that our offices will be opening a new branch not too far away--” Liam shakes his head. “That’s a lie, it’s a solid twenty-minute drive.”

“Keep reading,” Zayn urges, excitedly. Liam knows he must’ve already read through the whole email twice by now, the genius.

“We’d like to offer you...a _promotion_?” Liam cries, staring wide-eyed at his screen. “To _office manager_?”

Zayn whoops in excitement, swinging an arm around Liam’s neck. “Keep reading!” he repeats.

“We understand that the new location may be an inconvenience to your current residence so we would also like to include a relocation bonus so that you may be close to the new offices and so you can ensure you will continue to do a brilliant job supporting our company as always.” Liam blinks at the screen. “Holy shit.”

Zayn grins. “Drinks are on you tonight, bro.”

 

“Fuck,” Liam says, later that night, only slightly tipsy as he places his beer down on the table. “Where am I going to _live_?”

“Don’t sweat it, bro,” Zayn slurs, definitely more than slightly tipsy as he winks at the bartender. “We’ve got, like, a month to move. We’ll find somewhere.” Zayn whips his head around suddenly, then, frowning at Liam. “We’re still living together, right?”

Liam laughs. “Of course, you donut. I thought that was a given.”

Zayn flips him off. “Shh. Be quiet, Batman.” He points to the bar. “I’m going to go fuck the bartender, okay?”

Liam raises an eyebrow. “Okay,” he says, and watches Zayn saunter over to the bar. It’s useless to try to fight Zayn when he gets flirty, Liam has learned, and he watches how the bartender falls easily to Zayn’s charms, leaning over the bar to whisper to Zayn, then disappearing through an ‘Employees Only’ door a moment later. Zayn looks around to make sure no one’s watching him--he catches Liam looking and winks at him, though--and then slips through the same door. Liam smirks and takes another swig of his beer. He’ll give Zayn a generous half-hour before calling for their Uber home.

He continues looking around the bar, kind of just people-watching as he debates going outside and having a smoke. He decides to just give into his craving--he’s earned it, hasn’t he--and finishes his beer, setting his bottle back on the table and walking outside.

It’s not too cold outside but it’s not very hot, either, a perfect balmy in-between temperature that makes Liam sigh happily as he reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a pack of cigarettes. He slips one in between his lips and lights it, taking a drag and sighing. He can’t believe he got a fucking _promotion_. This is going to mean better pay and hopefully better hours too. He closes his eyes and breathes the smoke out through his nose. Maybe now he’ll finally find the time to date someone.

“Hey, man, got a light?” a voice says, from behind him, and Liam turns to see a man just a little bit shorter than him with a cigarette between his lips. Liam nods, holding up his lighter and flicking it on, the guy leaning forward and lighting his cig, then leaning back, blowing a plume of smoke into the air.  
“Thanks,” he says, scratching at the scruff on his face. He’s only in a worn tank but he doesn’t look to be cold at all, stretching his arms over his head. His hair’s pulled back with a dark headband and he reaches up to adjust it. Liam catches a glimpse of the multitude of tattoos on his arm. Something about them looks _so_ familiar but he can’t put his finger on where he’s seen them--

“Enjoying the view?” the guy says, and Liam blinks out of whatever daze he’d been in.

“Sorry, sorry, I just--I like your tatts.”

“Oh,” the man says, looking down at his arm and then back up at Liam, smirking. “Thanks. You got any yourself?”

“Yeah, a few,” Liam says, rolling up his sleeve to show the four chevrons he’s got inked onto his forearm, then turning his arm the other way so the man can see his feather and hieroglyphs. “My roommate really got me into them. I never thought I’d ever get any, but..they’re addictive,” Liam says, chuckling.

“Tell me about it,” the man agrees, smiling. He’s got a nice smile, Liam thinks, the corners of his eyes crinkling up when he grins. “I never wanted to get one, _ever_ , but then my boyf--um,” the man purses his lips, “my best friend got really into them, and then I couldn’t help but join the party.”

Liam nods in understanding, feeling a bit sympathetic towards the man’s apparently confusing love life. It’s at times like these that he feels kind of glad he doesn’t really have any sort of love life at all.

“Anyways, thanks for the light, man,” the guy says, tossing his butt to the ground and grinding it out. “Have a good night.”

“Yeah,” Liam says, watching the man turn around and walk back into the bar. “You too,” he says, too late, mind still buzzing with curiosity as to just how he knows this guy.

 

It’s only a bit later, after he and Zayn stumble into their apartment and mumble goodnight to one another and Liam finds himself sad, horny, and jealous that he didn’t get to hook up with anyone at the bar, does Liam realize where he knows that mystery smoker from.

It happens when he’s pulled up the site again and he’s looking through some solo videos--he finds one with a strikingly familiar face. He clicks play and it only takes him a few seconds to realize that who he’s watching is the man from the bar. His hair’s out of its headband but it’s undoubtedly him, moaning as he touches himself and bites his lip.

It’s only after he groans and pinches his nipple, letting out a breathy _ah_ , that Liam realizes he also knows him from somewhere else.

“Holy shit,” Liam says, as he realizes he’s watching one of Louis’ solo vids. It _has_ to be that guy, and now that Liam sees him in a better light, he realizes that he’s correct. He can still make out the high cheekbones through the stubble on his face and the way he sounds is undoubtedly the same. But this means that--

“Holy _shit_ ,” Liam repeats, falling back on his bed, mouth agape, staring at the ceiling when he realizes that he’d ran into _the_ Louis today; the man who’d bummed a light off of him had been none other than the Louis he’d gotten off to not too long ago--and is about to get off to right now, actually.

Liam’s already taken his pants off and he pushes his boxers down as well, turning and watching Louis shiver with pleasure. It only takes him a couple strokes to get properly hard and it’s weird--usually he doesn’t care about people’s faces on screen. He’s content with just listening to them get themselves off. There’s something about Louis that just draws him in, though, and he can’t tear his eyes away from Louis’ desperate expression.

“ _Shit_ ,” Louis curses, on camera, repeating the word over and over till he gasps and opens his eyes, which roll back into his head in pleasure. Liam grunts and comes just a few seconds later, clasping a hand over his mouth so he doesn’t wake up Zayn.

He’s shaking for the next minute or so, the video over with. He’s never come that fast before. He doesn’t know if it’s just because he’s a bit more relaxed from the alcohol, but he’d like to think that Louis’ moans helped him through it too. But if Louis had made a solo video, then that would mean Harry might--

Liam scrolls through the videos again until he finds a thumbnail not too far back from where he’d seen Louis. It’s Harry, his familiar face sticking out from the sea of others, and Liam decides that he’s too exhausted to try to get himself off a second time. But he decides to keep the page open and doesn’t turn off his laptop before he goes to sleep. He’ll treat himself in the morning.

 

\------

 

“Zayn, you dick. Get your ass up,” Liam scolds, kicking Zayn where he’s laying on their new sofa. They’re in the process of moving into their new place right now and, just as Liam had predicted, Zayn had brought two boxes into their place before proclaiming that he was too tired to work any longer and had fallen dramatically onto their couch, pouting. Now, as Liam is sweating and straining his biceps to haul box after box up the stairs, Zayn is smirking and tapping away at his phone.

“Get off of Tinder,” Liam teases, after Zayn hasn’t moved. Zayn scoffs, sitting up and pushing his hair back.

“You know I’m not one for all this,” Zayn waves his hand around, “physical exertion.”

“Zayn, you’ve literally picked me up and carried me for half a mile before without losing your breath,” Liam says, raising an eyebrow and putting a box down. “I know you’re strong and you do too.”

“Yeah but,” Zayn groans and pouts. “I’m _lazy_.”

Liam rolls his eyes. “Luckily, this was the last box. But will you at least help unpack?”

“Obviously,” Zayn says, and Liam smacks him upside the head as he walks past him to get a bottle of water. The door to their apartment is open but the hallway is cooler so he doesn’t try to close it, just takes his shirt off, fanning himself with it a bit before taking a gulp of water. He can feel a bit of it trickle down his chest but he just sighs in relief, blotting the sweat on his forehead with his shirt.

“Wow,” a voice says, almost reverently, and Liam blinks his eyes open to three guys standing just outside his door, all looking pretty impressed.

“I can’t believe our new neighbor is David Beckham,” the blond guy in the back says, but Liam barely notices him because the other two guys in front look shockingly, horrendously familiar.

“Hey, I know you,” the shorter one says. “You’re that guy who gave me a light outside the bar a little while back.”

Liam can’t speak. He can barely breathe right now, actually, because fucking Harry _and_ Louis are standing right in front of him. The two guys he’s been drooling over, been jacking off to for _weeks_ , literally just a few feet in front of him. Fuck. _Fuck_.

“Liam, who’s at--” Zayn says, then steps over next to Liam, having seen the three men at the door. “Oh. Hey.”

“Damn,” Louis says. “Are _all_ our new neighbors going to be this hot?”

Zayn smirks and Liam finally breaks out of his stupor, elbowing Zayn in the ribs.

“Sorry, I’m--uh, my name’s Liam. Nice to meet you guys.”

“Likewise,” Harry says, giving them a big smile. “I’m Harry, this is Niall,” he continues, pointing behind himself, “and this menace next to me is Lewis.”

“Fuck you,” Louis says, though there’s no heat behind it whatsoever. He’s grinning, actually, and Liam can already tell how taken he is by the taller man. “My name’s Louis.”

“Hi,” Zayn says, hands on his hips. “Well, I was about to pack a bowl, but this square,” he says, bumping his hips into Liam’s, “won’t smoke with me, so are any of you lot down?”

The three men all look a bit floored at Zayn’s straightforwardness but then Louis breaks into a huge grin.

“Fuck yeah!”

“Count me in, too,” Niall adds, following Louis and Zayn over to the balcony. Liam watches them and rolls his eyes.

“Incredible. Barely a few hours in and he’s already getting high. He won’t be able to unpack at all tonight. Fuck if I’m letting him sleep in _my_ bed.”

Harry laughs, and Liam turns to look at him, blushing a little bit. Did he say that out loud?

“I can’t smoke too much. My asthma flares up,” Harry says, smiling, and Liam is already a hopeless pile of mush, because Harry’s dimples are even more amazing in real life, and all Liam wants to do is reach out and touch them.

“Um,” he says, otherwise, suddenly aware that he and Harry are just standing awkwardly in the doorway. “Sorry, come in.”

Harry giggles--fuck--and follows Liam into the living room. “Oh, okay, so this is basically like a flipped version of our apartment,” he says, nodding as he glances down the hallway to the bedrooms. “You’ve got a master and a second bedroom, right?”

Liam nods. “Yeah. Zayn likes to paint, so he took the master, and he’s probably going to make, like, half the room into a studio or something.” Liam turns to look out the glass door to the balcony, watching the three guys out there laugh at something he can’t hear. “How about you three?” he asks, without really thinking about it. Then his eyes widen. “Oh, sorry, that was pretty intrusive, you don’t have to--I mean, if you don’t want--”

Harry laughs again. It seems like that’s all he’s been doing around Liam, but he doesn’t seem to mind. “Nah, Louis and I share the master and Niall has the second.”

“Oh,” Liam says, heart thudding as he tries to look casual and find out the answer to a question he’s been mulling over for ages now. “So, are you and Louis--” he points between the two of them, “like--together? Or.”

Harry raises an eyebrow. He’s still smiling, though, that fucker. “Would that be a problem for you?” he says, carefully, but with enough mirth that Liam suspects he already knows the answer.

“I’d be a hypocrite if it was, to be honest,” Liam answers, and Harry looks _very_ satisfied with that reply.

“Well, in that case,” Harry says, putting his hands in his pocket and sighing. “I’m not sure. It’s a bit--well, it’s complicated,” he admits, looking out the glass door as well. “We’re together but we’re not, like, _together_ , y’know?”

“Okay,” Liam says, like he understands, though he really doesn’t at all.

“Louis and I, we’ve known each other for forever, it just--” Harry shrugs. “It isn’t concrete, I guess. Or at least that’s what I infer.”

“Sure,” Liam replies, probably looking like a complete idiot. Harry looks sheepish.

“Sorry, that must’ve been a pretty heavy answer to a relatively innocent question. My bad.”

“No, it’s--” Liam starts, but then the balcony door slides open. Liam crinkles his nose. “Augh, it smells like weed.”

“Smart man,” Louis comments, his eyes bloodshot. “Tell me, what exactly did you think we were doing out there?”

Niall cackles, louder and longer than anyone Liam’s ever seen, and Zayn just has an easy smile on his face, which means that he definitely likes these guys. Good. Great. Let’s just be best friends with the guys Liam jacks off to, then. This should work out well.

 

Harry invites them all over for dinner, which turns out to be much nicer than Liam expected, with pots and pans of all sorts of delicious things. It turns out Harry’s quite the amateur chef, apparently, and he blushes at Louis and Niall’s praise and even harder at Zayn and Liam’s. Everything seems to be vegetarian, some stuff even vegan, though there is one dish with chicken in it.

“I’m a growing boy,” Louis explains. “I told Harry that I’d go on hunger strike if he didn’t make _one_ thing with meat in it.”

Niall rolls his eyes. “You say that like you don’t get enough of Harry’s meat already,” he mutters, but probably a bit too loud, because the entire table goes silent at that. Harry and Louis are looking at each other and then at Zayn and Liam and Zayn’s got his eyebrows raised. Niall looks only a little bit guilty, but it’s Liam who breaks the silence.

“Well,” he starts, hoping to break the awkwardness, “I suppose it’s good for Harry that the kitchen’s not the only room he’s got skills in.”

Louis chokes on his food and Harry smacks him on the back but Niall’s laughing again, reaching over to give Liam a high-five. Liam blushes and Zayn just rolls his eyes. Liam keeps blushing as Louis smirks at him, but he absolutely _burns_ under Harry’s silent, calculating gaze, as if Harry knows that Liam knows just how good Harry’s bedroom skills are, having practically seen them in action.

Everything’s much more calm by dessert, though, and Liam notices that even Harry and Louis are letting themselves get a little bit closer to each other as the night goes on, touching each other for longer and longer or whispering in each other’s ears. Liam can feel the tips of his ears turn pink as he thinks about what tonight would entail for them, wonders which one of them likes to top or if they ever tape themselves doing anything else besides just the videos he’s obsessed with.

“Liam?” Harry’s voice calls, and Liam blinks back to reality.

“Oh, sorry,” he mutters, giving Harry a weak smile. “I think I’m just getting a bit tired.”  
“Oh,” Harry says, looking disappointed.

“No, no--” Liam blurts, embarrassed. “I just. It’s been a long day, and I zone out sometimes when I’m tired, don’t worry about it. It’s not deterring from this,” he waves around the apartment, at the other guys, “at all. I’m having fun. This was really nice of you to do,” he finishes, giving Harry a genuine smile.

“Thanks,” Harry replies, and it may just be the light, but Liam swears he’s blushing, too.

 

\------

 

Living next to Harry and Louis is--well, it’s mostly just very _weird_.

Almost every time he sees either one or both of them, Liam has to hold himself back from blurting out how he knows them and admitting to getting off over them. It’s hard to avoid them because he and Harry leave for work at the same time in the morning--since apparently they only work a half mile away from each other--and Louis is just always over at Liam’s apartment, either smoking with Zayn or watching some random movie on their couch because Niall and Harry constantly hog their TV, apparently.

Regardless, the five of them seem to get along swimmingly and before Liam realizes it, several months have passed and they’re having weekly dinners at each others’ apartments, or heading down to the beach during the weekend, or even going to amusement parks together. He’s got all of their names down in his contacts and is friends with them on every social network he has an account on, but it doesn’t hit him how much they’ve settled themselves into Liam’s life until he’s working over at Harry’s apartment one night, since Louis and Zayn are practically hotboxing his apartment. Niall’s seated near him, plucking away something soothing on his guitar.

“Harry?” Liam calls, clicking at his laptop. He’d gotten an email about updating some of his information for HR and figures that he has to add some more emergency contacts. Before it’d only been Zayn, really, but now he supposes he has more to put in, which is a fact that kind of warms his heart.

“Yeah?” Harry replies, walking out of the kitchen. His hair’s up in a messy bun and he’s got flour on his forehead and Liam still wants to kiss him so, _so_ badly. Liam blushes. He’s tried to get over his feelings for the two guys next door but for some reason they won’t go away, regardless of how many times he sees the two of them together, wrapped up in their own little world. He never even feels guilty for liking one of them, since he knows he likes the both of them the same amount, and all he can ever think about is the three of them together and how much he desperately wants to be a part of Harry and Louis’ lives in that way.

“Can I put you down as my primary emergency contact?” Liam asks, and Harry just blinks at him, obviously surprised. “I mean, you’re so close to where I work, and there’s always the chance that Zayn or Louis will be high, and Niall doesn’t even have a car--”  
“Hey!” Niall protests, pouting, though he doesn’t stop playing whatever song he’s made up.

“And, after me, you’re arguably the most responsible of our friend group. So would that be okay?” Liam asks.

“I--um--” Harry blushes. “Yeah, of course, Liam. You know how much we love you, that’s, like...thank you for trusting me like this. I’m really flattered.”

Liam shrugs. “Of course,” he says, casually, trying to make sure his heart doesn’t jump out of his chest and run into Harry’s arms because he’s pretty sure that if it could, it would. But he thinks about what Harry’s just said and realizes that Harry’s completely correct. This is such a huge position, something Liam would only want someone he really trusts to hold, and for so long there’s really been no one in his life to watch his back but Zayn. But now there’s Harry, and Louis, and Niall, all so full of love and ready to make sure Liam is always okay and it’s--it’s perfect, really.

 

“Y’know, I’ve never really had too many friends,” Liam starts, later on in the night, when Zayn and Louis have hobbled over to the apartment next door for drinks. Everyone’s got at least one beer in them and is working on their second, and Liam is stuck happily in a Niall and Harry sandwich. Louis’ squished in on Harry’s other side, of course, and Zayn is cuddling a surprisingly large pillow by himself on the recliner, though he doesn’t look too put out by his situation. He grunts in acknowledgement of Liam’s words, though, and Harry puts a comforting hand on his knee. Liam tries hard to hide the goosebumps that show up on his skin from that.

“I just--I was bullied a lot in school when I was young,” he continues. “And, like, no one ever came to my 16th birthday party, y’know. It really fucking sucked.”

“Aww, Payno,” Louis says, pouting. “We would’ve come if we’d known you back then.”

Liam smiles. “I don’t know if I’d have wanted _you_ to come, Louis,” he says, and the other four men laugh as Louis flips Liam off. “But my point is, really, I appreciate the four of you so much. I mean I know Zayn’s been with me through a lot but you three,” he motions to Harry, Louis, and Niall, “have become such a huge part of my life in such a little amount of time and it’s amazing. I have no reservations about us, y’know. You all make me so happy. Basically, I...I love all of you,” he finishes, cautiously, and there’s a pause before Zayn speaks.

“ _Lee-yum_!” he cries, and then there’s a dogpile on the couch with Liam at the very bottom, laughing at the other four guys laying on top of him.

“We love you too,” Harry says, and everyone else agrees along, and Liam blushes with happiness.

When everyone’s crawled off of him, though, Liam notices that Harry’s still leaning on him a bit, though he doesn’t really comment on that, just swings his arm around Harry’s shoulder and leans his cheek against Harry’s hair. It’s soft and it tickles Liam’s nose and he catches Louis’ eye over the top of Harry’s head.

Louis gives Liam a smile but it doesn’t completely reach his eyes and he looks away quickly, taking another swig of his beer. Liam can reach Louis with the tips of his fingers, though, so he pokes at Louis until Louis leans into his touch and he can kind of play with the hair at the nape of Louis’ neck. Liam doesn’t think he’s ever been this close to both Harry and Louis at the same time and just the warmth and intimacy of it all already has his gut stirring and he can feel his cock filling up in interest. He wants nothing more than to be pressed in between these two men in bed, feeling their hands all over him, their mouths connected--

“Liam,” Zayn whines. “Come back to earth.”

“Oh, sorry,” Liam says, blushing again. Louis has turned his head and is looking at Liam with a curious expression. By the way Harry’s barely moving, Liam’s assuming the younger man has gone to sleep. He glances down and sees the slow rise and fall of his stomach, confirming his suspicions. “Harry’s asleep.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” Louis comments, though he’s smirking, and he reaches over and ruffles Liam’s hair. “I’ll get him into bed.”

Harry proves hard to move though, heavy like a block of marble in his sleep, so Liam stands up and helps Louis, practically carrying Harry bridal-style down the hallway to their bedroom. Liam’s never been in their room before but it’s exactly how he would’ve imagined it, warm and decorated tastefully, thanks to Harry, with a few clothes strewn here and there, thanks to Louis. It looks loved, though, and there’s a nice-sized bed right in the middle of the room that Liam gently drops Harry onto.

“Come to bed,” Harry mumbles, fingers grazing Liam’s arm, and Liam freezes in place, goosebumps popping up again, almost giving in to Harry’s demand before he realizes that it was probably aimed at Louis. Liam clears his throat.

“Harry’s calling for you,” he says, but Louis is looking at Harry kind of sadly.

“Yeah,” he acknowledges, then sighs and looks at Liam, smiling halfheartedly. “Thanks.”

“Louis--” Liam starts, but he doesn’t even know what to say. Louis has looked quiet and bummed out all evening, so unlike what Liam is used to, so he decides he should just let his actions speak instead and he steps forward, pulling Louis into a hug.

Louis doesn’t move at first, but then he slowly falls into it, sighing again and wrapping his arms around Liam’s waist, his face in Liam’s neck. Liam can feel his own pulse race at the touch and can smell the intoxicating scent of Louis as they hold each other, that mix of cinnamon and tobacco that makes his heart surge.

“Thanks,” Louis mumbles, and Liam shivers, tightening his hold around Louis’ shoulders.

“I don’t like it when you’re not happy,” Liam replies, and Louis barks out a laugh and then pulls away from Liam, his eyes suspiciously wet.

“I’m okay,” he says, but Liam can’t help but cup his face and brush his thumb along Louis’ cheekbone. It’s a bit too intimate, perhaps, but Louis doesn’t breathe the entire time Liam touches him like that, and Liam lets his hand fall to his side eventually, biting his lip before walking backwards out of the room.

“G’night,” he says, but Louis doesn’t reply, just stares at Liam with an expression Liam can’t quite figure out.

 

As soon as he falls into his own bed, Liam pulls up his laptop, scolding himself as he opens his browser and heads directly to Harry and Louis’ videos. He’d promised himself he wouldn’t do this anymore, especially now that they were friends, and he’d been able to keep away from it for a while now but--after tonight, and the way Harry had been tucked into him, and how Louis’ words had buzzed against his skin, he can’t fucking help it, and he clicks open to the site, ready to open his history when--holy shit.

Harry and Louis have put out a _new_ video.

Well, granted, it could be old, could be something they recorded ages ago and put up now, but it’s still something Liam hasn’t seen before, and he double-checks that his door is locked before he plugs his earbuds in and clicks play.

It’s the same as before, with Louis and Harry on their bed, and they’re kissing, but it’s not as soft and sweet as it was in the first video Liam had seen with the two of them. In this one, they’re solidly _going_ for it, tongues in each others’ mouths, moaning deeply into the kisses, and even though he can’t see past their chests, Liam can tell they’re grinding against each other. He unbuttons his pants and kicks them off the bed, cupping himself through his underwear.

This time, Harry plasters himself to Louis’ back, getting a hand around him and jerking him off. Louis is obviously thoroughly enjoying it and Harry keeps biting at his earlobe and licking up his neck, moaning words of encouragement as Louis probably grinds his ass back onto Harry’s cock. It doesn’t take too long for Louis to come--Liam guesses that the two of them were already pretty worked up before they shot this video--and Liam pulls his hard cock out of his damp briefs, tossing them off the bed too as he thumbs along the head of his prick, shuddering as Harry and Louis kiss onscreen.

“Make me come,” he hears Harry whisper, and Louis is on him in no time, his arm across Harry’s torso as he jacks Harry off. Harry’s moaning and pulling his own hair and it’s the greatest thing Liam’s ever seen. He’s so turned on he doesn’t even need lube, his own precome making his movements slick and easy as he fucks into his own fist.

“Liam,” he hears, and curses, pulling out one of his earbuds. He’d thought Zayn was asleep, did he hear Liam getting off? He bites his lip and waits once more but Zayn doesn’t call him again, so he puts the earbud back in and watches the video.

“Oh, fuck, _Liam_ ,” he hears again, and then he freezes up. Liam stares at the screen, eyes wide, watching Harry moan Liam’s name as Louis jacks him off.

He’s so surprised he doesn’t even realize that Harry’s come until he cries out Liam’s name one last time and then pulls Louis in for an intense kiss, before the screen goes black. Liam just keeps staring at it, though, as if someone’s going to pop up on the screen and explain what he just saw.

Harry just fucking got off. To _him_. This video _had_ to be recent, and Harry--holy shit. Holy shit. Liam reaches down and grabs his cock. Holy _shit_. Liam’s working himself over before his mind is able to catch up to his hands, and he uses his free hand to click back on the video a bit and plays it, closing his eyes, listening to Harry moan his name over and over and over again until Liam comes with a choked-off cry, come splattering all the way up to his collarbones.

“Oh, fuck,” he mutters, panting, his body still shaking with the aftershocks, his head unable to wrap itself around what he’d just seen, what he’d just _heard_.

 

\------

 

Liam feels immensely guilty for several days after, and goes out of his way to avoid Harry and Louis. It’s already bad enough that he watched the two of them get off _after_ becoming probably best friends with them, but he re-watched the video--he couldn’t help it--and he noticed how Louis’ entire demeanor changed once Harry started saying Liam’s name. He’d stopped smiling for the rest of the video and he’d hidden his face in Harry’s neck or in the pillow, probably shielding his expression from both Harry and the camera. All Liam could think about was how Louis had stumbled over calling Harry his boyfriend when they’d first met outside the bar and how Harry hadn’t been solid on their relationship status and it becomes so obvious now, how much Louis loves Harry.

Liam wants to throw up. He knows Louis now, knows how passionately he delves into everything in his life, especially when it comes to relationships and trust, and if Louis loves Harry, Louis must be really fucking gone for him, and Liam has no right to step into that or try to come in between the two of them. It sucks, because especially after the other night at the other guys’ apartment, Liam was seriously contemplating just coming clean to Harry and Louis about both watching their videos and also his feelings in general, how he was falling for the two of them and how it was weird but he really wanted to make it work. He’d googled ‘three-way relationships’ and had found a surprisingly large amount of information relating to them but he hadn’t really considered how Harry and Louis’ relationship would have been and he sees now how selfish that was of him.

He also realizes just why Louis looked so sad a few nights ago, and it must’ve been because he and Harry had already made that video, and Liam can see now why Louis seemed so distant, watching Harry with Liam, how the two of them had cuddled and bonded like they did, and he feels like a piece of shit for letting his insignificant feelings get in the way of something that’d probably been building up for _years_.

 

It’s a week later, another Friday night, when Harry finally manages to catch Liam off-guard, since Liam hadn’t really been paying attention when he opened the door. He’s surprised to see Harry, of course, but he can’t bring himself to do much more than step aside to let Harry walk in.

“So,” Harry says, arms crossed, tapping his foot against the carpet. He’s barefoot, of course he is, and that’s so fucking cute, such a _Harry_ thing to do. Liam shouldn’t be as endeared as he is, he’s not allowed to be, especially considering his revelation about Louis’ feelings, but he can’t help the warm feeling of adoration that uncurls in his stomach when he sees Harry. “You’ve been avoiding us.”

“Um,” Liam starts, trying to find a good excuse. “Work was really rough this week?” he offers, but Harry raises an eyebrow.

“I’ve seen you come home at a decent time every day this week, Liam. No extra files or papers or anything. I know you’ve been spending your nights dicking around on Twitter, okay, I fucking follow you on there.”

Oh, yeah. There’s that. Shit.

“I--”

“Don’t beat around the bush, okay. What happened?” Harry says, looking concerned as he steps forward, towards Liam. “One minute I’m your primary emergency contact and the next I’m someone you’re trying to avoid for a whole week?”  
“I just,” Liam licks his lips. “Something came up, okay.”

Harry cocks his head and looks Liam up and down like he’s trying to figure Liam out. “What is it?”

Liam takes a deep breath, glancing around the room. “It--” he starts, but he doesn’t get to finish, because Harry’s taken two steps forward and closed the distance between the two of them, catching Liam’s lips in a kiss.

And, wow. Liam hasn’t been kissed like this before, never so passionately and tenderly. Harry licks into Liam’s mouth, tilting his head back and Liam can’t help but moan and shiver, his hands coming up to grip onto Harry’s waist as Harry keeps kissing him thoroughly.

When Harry finally pulls away, it takes Liam several seconds to blink open his eyes, and the first thing he sees are Harry’s wet, pink lips. He groans in frustration.

“Was that okay? Because--” Harry says, but Liam interrupts him with another kiss, one with a lot more fire behind it, so intense that he’s stumbling back until his shoulders hit the wall. Harry crowds him into it and Liam sighs, letting Harry nip at his lower lip and then break off, kissing down Liam’s neck.

“I thought maybe I scared you off by what I said last week,” Harry breathes, and Liam remembers Harry asking him to come to bed with him and blushes. “But you make me feel so good, Liam.”

Liam’s legitimately a pile of mush now, and all he can do is welcome Harry’s lips back on his, pulling Harry up by his hair and sliding his tongue into Harry’s mouth. They kiss for what feels like ages before Harry whines and pulls away again, beginning to move down Liam’s body.

Oh god. This is going to happen, it’s really going to happen. Liam’s breath catches as Harry kisses down his jaw and towards his Adam’s apple. It’s only when Harry starts sucking at Liam’s birthmark, though, that he remembers why none of this should be happening.

“Shit,” Liam says suddenly, then pushes Harry away. It’s a bit rough, sure, but Harry was _really_ going at his neck. “I can’t--we shouldn’t do this, Harry.”

Harry frowns. “What?” he says, obviously surprised. He sounds out of breath, and Liam tries to not let that turn him on. “You just--I thought--um, you’d want this, and the other night we--”

“There’s--” _Louis_ , Liam wants to say, but he doesn’t want to open a can of worms, and he also doesn’t know if Harry knows Louis’ feelings for him. Though, considering his nonchalant attitude towards their relationship, Liam’s pretty sure Harry’s fairly unaware about it all.

“...someone else?” Harry guesses, softly, and it’s not really a lie, is it? Liam’s just as gone for Louis as he is for Harry and he could never do this, never start something with just one of them, it has to be both of them there, both of them need to be okay with this before anything unfurls with two--or all three--of them.

“Yeah,” Liam answers. Harry’s never been very good at masking his feelings and it’s no different this time. Liam can tell he’s trying to look unaffected but he still seems completely devastated, running a hand through his hair and clearing his throat.

“Wow. Uh, I--I wasn’t expecting that, if I’m honest.” Harry chuckles bitterly. “You were really, uh... _involved_ , I guess, just now, so I just assumed--um.” He bites his lip, crossing his arms, suddenly turning fairly defensive. “Who is it? I mean, I thought we’d have known if you were seeing someone, I feel like you would’ve told us by now.”

Liam scrambles for a name, _any_ name that would be even slightly plausible and would let him out of this discussion scot-free.

“Zayn,” he blurts out, without really thinking about it, and his eyes widen at the same time as Harry’s.

“Oh,” Harry says, very quietly now, frowning even harder. “Yeah, I--I guess that makes sense. Um, have you two always--”  
“It’s new. It’s a new thing, we just--the other night, and--”

“Yeah,” Harry says. “I’m gonna--I need to--um, text me if you need something, okay,” Harry rushes out, turning and speed-walking out of Liam’s apartment. Then he turns around. “Can we just, like. Pretend this never happened?” he asks, and his voice hitches on the last word. Liam’s heart practically crumbles as he sees the tears build up in Harry’s eyes. He almost wants to tell Harry he lied, pull Harry back in and kiss him deep, take him to bed and show him just how much he loves him, but. It’s too late now, the lie is out and Harry would definitely be mad at Liam for fucking with his feelings like that, and Louis doesn’t deserve this, he deserves Harry, and maybe this’ll help Harry see that.

“Okay,” Liam says, so quietly he’s surprised Harry can hear it, and he watches as Harry walks to his apartment and slams the door shut. Liam lets out a sigh and slides to the floor, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes. Fuck, he really messed up, didn’t he? And he dragged someone else into this clusterfuck too, and now he’s going to have to--

“Liam?” Zayn asks, and Liam looks up to where Zayn’s stepping into the apartment. “Yo, are you okay? What happened?”

Liam sighs, letting his head fall back against the wall. “I fucked up, Zayn. I really fucked up. Fuck.”

Zayn pauses, contemplating. “Okay,” he says slowly. “Why don’t we sit down somewhere more comfortable and talk about this?”

 

“So let me get this straight,” Zayn says, calmer than Liam would’ve expected, when they’ve sat down at the dining table with a couple of beers. But then again, Zayn always was the more mature one of the two of them. He hadn’t really reacted to the news angrily, which Liam had expected, for some reason. “You love... _both_ of them?”  
Liam sighs. “Yes,” he admits, chewing on his bottom lip. “I can’t--it’s weird to explain.”

Zayn hums contemplatively. “I suppose. But I guess the one question I have for you is--well, is this just about the sex?”

Liam blinks at him, a bit taken aback. “No--”

“Because you _did_ kind of build your relationship with them in a very sexual way. Though they’re not really aware of that side of it, I guess.”

“No, I--” Liam sighs again. “I really do love them, Zayn.”

“Tell me why,” Zayn inquires, leaning back in his chair.

Liam takes a moment to think over it, since it’s just been so obvious to him for so long, such a natural reaction, and having to explain the details of it is something he hasn’t had to do yet, a part of the situation that he never really had the need to explore. He just kind of went with his heart.

“I guess,” he starts, licking his lips. “They’re so different, y’know? Harry and Louis. Harry is like--he’s calm and sweet and he always talks and moves so slowly. He’s so sensitive and he’s an open book and all he ever wants to do is help me. But Louis is the exact opposite with me, he’s full of energy and mean and sarcastic to me but in the best way possible. He’s fast and he zooms around me, sometimes I can’t breathe when I’m near him because he gets me so fired up. But he’s not as open as Harry, he’s closed off, so it’s hard to read his feelings. But it works, because Louis just makes a mess and Harry cleans it up. They’re literally perfect for each other,” Liam says, chuckling bitterly. “And so--I don’t know where I fit in. I don’t want to break them up because it’s not like I’m bringing something new to the table, they already balance each other out so perfectly and--”

Liam’s voice cracks as he starts tearing up, and before he knows it, he’s sobbing into his hands.

“Aww, Liam,” Zayn murmurs, standing up and pulling Liam up too, wrapping his arms around Liam’s shoulders. “Shh, it’s okay,” Zayn says.

But it’s not. Harry likes Liam and Louis likes Harry and Liam likes both of them and it’s a big mess and all this could’ve been prevented if Liam hadn’t gone and fallen in love with them in the first place--if his nosy ass had just stayed off that goddamn website.

“ _Liam_ ,” a voice roars angrily, then, and the door to the apartment bursts open. Louis stomps in, looking furious. “Where are you, you _motherf_ \--oh,” he stops, looking shocked as he sees Liam. It takes Liam a second to realize that he’s still coddled in Zayn’s protective grip and he turns pink when he realizes how intimate of a scene this must look like. He glances up at Zayn, who’s scowling at Louis, and feels even more guilt wash over him, having to come between his best friends’ friendship as well. Shit, he’s really fucked all of this up.

“This--” Louis says, stepping forward. Zayn’s grip tightens on Liam and Liam looks over to Louis. “What kind of bullshit is this?” he asks, pointing between Zayn and Liam.

“It’s not bullshit, we’re in love,” Zayn says, and Louis rolls his eyes.

“Give me a fucking _break_ ,” he mutters. “You two are as much in love as me and Niall. This is fucking ridiculous. Liam, what kind of a pussy move--”

“Watch yourself, Louis,” Zayn warns, and Liam sees Louis blink at Zayn in shock before steeling himself for a fight.

“Zayn, you need to--”

“Be _quiet_ , both of you,” Liam cries, then, and wrestles himself out of Zayn’s grip. “I can’t--I don’t want to mess any more relationships up, okay? Zayn, I--please, can I talk to Louis? Alone?”

Zayn gives Liam a long, calculating look, then nods, walking to the front hallway and grabbing his cigarettes, wallet, and keys. “Let me know when the coast is clear,” he says, before shutting the door and leaving Liam and Louis alone in the apartment.

 

After a couple minutes of uncomfortable silence, Liam finally speaks up.

“Would you like something to drink?” he asks, wincing at the awkwardness of the situation. Louis shakes his head and walks over to Liam, pointing a finger and poking it into Liam’s chest.

“Why’d you lie to Harry?” he asks, blunt and straight to the point. Liam gulps.

“I don’t--”  
“Don’t say you don’t like him. I know you like him. I’m not blind, Liam, I’ve seen the way you look at him. And he’s crazy for you. How could you ever--” Louis catches himself, clearing his throat. “ _Why_ would you ever say no to him?”

Liam’s head is buzzing with all the different things he could say. Should he be honest? Should he tell Louis the whole story, like he’d just done with Zayn? But he can’t, Louis would probably run away and avoid Liam, avoid this whole shit situation. Maybe Liam should just start off with something less intense. So Liam bites his lip and speaks.

“I know you love him,” he says, and watches Louis frown and then look at Liam in shock. “I know you’re in love with Harry, Louis, and I couldn’t say yes to him and watch you look sad every night. I couldn’t stand it if you resented me for agreeing to a relationship with Harry when I know--I know that that’s all you want with him, isn’t it? To hold his hand and to be _his_. To be able to call him your boyfriend without correcting yourself.”

Louis takes a step back and looks away from Liam, his cheeks burning, but he doesn’t speak, so Liam goes on.

“I didn’t mean to break Harry’s heart, and I do have feelings for him, okay, but I’d rather have both of you in my life than only one of you. And I know that you want what’s best for Harry, Louis, because you love him so much, but I also know that you would’ve gone out of your way to avoid me if I had started dating Harry. And I can’t have that. But you--you’re _so_ good for him, Louis, you’re everything he needs. _You’re_ the one he should be with.”

Louis laughs, but it’s got no humor behind it, and he looks up to the ceiling, taking a deep breath and blinking back tears. “Yeah, try telling him that.”

“You just need to show him that you’re--”

“You think I haven’t tried, Liam?” Louis cries frustratedly. “You think I haven’t done _every_ fucking possible thing to make him see how much I love him, how much I care? He doesn’t _get_ it, okay? To him, we’re just...we’re something temporary. Something disposable. I’m just a placeholder till someone more perfect comes around, okay, someone like--” Louis lets out a shaky breath. “Someone like you.”

“ _Me_?” Liam says, shaking his head. “What am I? I’m nothing. I’m just--I’m nothing special, Louis, I’m not smart like Zayn or bubbly like Harry or--” Liam takes a deep breath, “--strong, like you.” Louis clenches his hands into fists, his lips in a tight line. “I’m just...Liam.”

“ _God_ , Liam, don’t--” Louis says, shaking his head, tears welling up in his eyes. “You’re not that fucking dumb, are you?”

Liam frowns, confused. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Liam, _look_ at you.” Louis motions up and down his body. “You’re literally a fucking Greek god, okay? You’ve got abs on your abs and you’re one of the most gorgeous people I’ve ever seen.”

“That doesn’t--”

“And you’re--fuck, you love so much. You’re so innocent, you find joy in every fucking thing, every time I feel cynical or bitter about anything, you’re there and you make me see why everything is beautiful and why everyone deserves to be loved.”

Liam’s never felt his own heart beat so loudly in his chest. His head’s filled with white noise and he feels like his chest is going to explode with the emotions surging through him.

“You’re warm and kind and--and you smile with your whole body, do you know that, Liam? When you smile your eyes crinkle up and you just--you fucking _radiate_ happiness. You fit _so_ perfectly into our lives because we need someone like you, I need--” Louis’ voice breaks, and he takes a deep breath. “You’re the only thing that really makes me happy nowadays.”

And that’s it--that’s Liam’s breaking point. He can’t do this anymore, can’t turn away--he surges forward and grabs Louis’ face in his hands, crashing their lips together. It’s not even really a kiss at first, with the way it happens, but after a few moments Liam pulls back--just an inch--and moves forward again, kissing Louis properly.

It’s just as amazing as his kiss with Harry, really, except Harry led the kiss and Liam just followed. Here, however, Louis is letting Liam take charge, letting Liam suck on his tongue as he sighs into Liam’s mouth. Liam feels Louis’ arms wrap around his waist, his palm sliding underneath Liam’s shirt, and Liam feels electricity jolt through him, like he’s been struck by a lightning bolt, and that’s what Louis is, isn’t it? Harry is the calming rain, the peaceful serenity, the cleansing fall of water that makes Liam come alive and Louis is the thunder, the lightning, crashing and booming and shaking Liam to the core.

“Fuck,” Louis says, suddenly, and pulls away from Liam, wide-eyed and scared as his eyes dart over Liam’s face. “Shit, I can’t--” he starts, and Liam feels a sickening sense of deja vu as he sees Louis struggle with an excuse, just as Liam had done with Harry.

“Yeah,” Liam says, defeatedly, and moves to step back, but Louis has got his hands fisted into the front of Liam’s shirt. Louis takes a deep breath.

“You’re--you’re everything I want to be, Liam,” Louis says, quietly, and Liam leans forward, pressing their heads together. Louis wants to be like Liam, wants to be enough like Liam that Harry would love Louis the way he loves Liam.

“Why did you kiss back, then?” Liam asks, because it doesn’t make sense, why Louis would melt under his touch if he resents Liam so much, if all he wants from this is just to be like Liam. “You didn’t have to do it to be polite. I know you must hate me.”

It’s silent for a bit as Liam waits for Louis to respond, but neither of them move, still pressed close. Finally, Liam hears Louis sigh and ready himself to speak.

“I can’t hate someone--someone I care about so much,” Louis whispers, and once again, Liam can’t breathe.

“Louis,” he says, reverently.

“Do you know what it’s like to hate someone so much but at the same time be head over heels for them? To feel heartbroken because you have feelings for two people who only have feelings for each other?”

“Louis,” Liam says again. “Are you an idiot?”

Louis sputters and Liam can feel the tension melt off of him a bit as he blinks up at Liam, taken aback, obviously confused. “What--”

“Why do you think I kissed you?” Liam asks, and he sees Louis gulp, glancing down at Liam’s mouth and then back up at his eyes.

“Because you figured me out?” he offers, eyes darting between Liam’s. “Because you were being nice to me, because you wanted to let me down easy, because--”

“I’m in love with you,” Liam finishes, and for the first time ever, he sees Louis go completely still, unresponsive, his face blank. Liam can’t tell what Louis is thinking and it’s very disconcerting.

“You’re in love with me,” Louis repeats, finally, and Liam gives him a small smile.

“Yeah,” he confirms, and then Louis shakes his head.

“No, you--you said--you’re in love with Harry,” Louis stutters, and Liam nods slowly, taking a breath to steady himself.

“I’m in love with both of you,” he says, fast enough that Louis can’t interrupt him. “I love Harry and I love you too and it’s so--it’s so fucking confusing, Louis, but it doesn’t have to be, and I don’t know what to do.”

“You can’t--you can’t be in love with _both_ of us.”

Liam shakes his head again. “I can’t pick just one of you.”

“Liam, this isn’t--”

“Didn’t you _just_ say that you have feelings for me too? On top of loving Harry?”

Louis licks his lips. “Yeah, but--”

“So how is this different?”

“Because,” Louis laughs, sadly. “This isn’t--people don’t just _do_ things like this, Liam.”

Liam frowns. “Yes they do. I’ve looked it up.”

“You’ve looked it up,” Louis parrots, blinking at him, and then laughs bitterly. “Of course you have. And for just how long have you been looking this up?”

“A while,” Liam mumbles, blushing. “But people have really happy relationships with two partners, Louis. Where everyone is together.”

“Liam,” Louis starts, sighing, “things don’t just work out like this, okay? I’m not chasing after some delusional fantasy. I’m content with the fact that I--I’m the odd one out.”

“What?” Liam asks. “What the hell does that mean?”

Louis looks away from Liam, blinking back tears again. “I know I’m, uh. I’m the second choice. For both of you.”

“ _Louis_ ,” Liam says, and he can’t think of any way to make Louis realize he’s wrong besides kissing him, so that’s what he does, tilting Louis’ jaw up and then leaving small kisses all over Louis’ cheeks, jaw, and forehead. “Don’t be an idiot.”

“Liam--” Louis attempts, but then cuts himself off and just goes for it, as if he’s afraid that this is the last time he’ll ever get to do it. He kisses Liam again, moaning into it and then hitching himself up, wrapping his legs around Liam’s waist. Liam grunts, resting his hands underneath Louis’ ass, giving it a small squeeze. Louis’ hips buck forward and he lets out a needy whine, which just makes Liam curse and bite down on Louis’ neck.

“ _Liam_ ,” Louis repeats, much more breathily now, his hands pulling at Liam’s hair but pushing down on his head, encouraging his actions. “Fuck, _fuck_ \--”

Liam pulls away. He can’t take this much longer, he needs to be--he needs a flat surface, actually, so he can spread Louis out and take him apart. “Bedroom,” he mutters, leaning in to kiss Louis again before carrying him towards his room.

 

“Fuck,” Louis mumbles, as soon as Liam’s dropped him on the bed, undressed him, and then shed his own clothes. “ _Jesus_ , Liam, you’re so fucking hot--”

“Shut up,” Liam laughs, blushing as he crawls over Louis’ naked body, tan and curvy and so much more compact than Liam’s. Except his thighs, of course, and that draws an excited shiver out of Liam, thinking of Louis’ thighs wrapped around his head or his waist--

“Liam,” Louis whines, trailing a hand down his chest, stopping just before his happy trail, asking for attention.

Liam smirks. “Yeah,” he answers, and leans down, kissing at Louis’ neck, then his chest, his scruff scratching over Louis’ chest tattoo. He can feel his dick chub up as Louis moans at the feeling of Liam’s stubble on his skin, and Liam moves lower, rubbing his cheek against Louis’ nipple and making Louis cry out in surprise.

“Ah, _shit_ ,” Louis curses, gripping Liam’s head. He doesn’t push this time, though, and Liam suspects it’s because he’s ready for Liam to move lower, to actually get him off. Which is amazing, actually, Liam thinks, as he finally reaches Louis’ cock, its tip flushed a dusty rose. He can’t believe he’s getting the opportunity to do this, to make Louis come in real life, and that he’s finally getting to see Louis’ dick after months of imagining it. It’s better in real life, of course, and Liam wraps a hand around it, taking in the soft feel of it, how it’s wider and thicker than he’d expected but shorter than his own. Louis is uncut, just like Liam, so Liam knows what’s going to make him feel great, and he doesn’t waste any more time, leaning forward and swallowing all of Louis down in one go.

Louis fucking _shouts_ , yelling so loud that Liam is sure the guys can hear it next door. It makes him blush hard, though, wondering if Harry recognizes Louis’ moans, if he’ll get hard from them and jack off to Liam and Louis having sex. That image is enough to get Liam to moan as well, grinding his dick into the sheets, and Louis shakes as Liam’s mouth buzzes around his cock.

“God, your fuck--fucking _mouth_ ,” Louis gasps, as Liam pops off. He knows his lips must be spit-shiny and flushed and he smirks at Louis, reaching down to cup Louis’ balls and roll them in the palm of his hand.

“What do you want?” Liam asks, and Louis blushes, blinking back at him before letting his head fall back onto the pillow. He covers his face with his hands.

“Just--I just--” he starts, but Liam can tell Louis is overwhelmed, so he kisses back up his chest slowly and then pulls Louis’ hands off of his face. Louis immediately turns his head to the side and buries his face in his pillow.

“Now, none of that,” Liam chides, kissing along Louis’ jaw and nose until Louis slowly turns his head back to look up at Liam.

“You’re--” he starts, then sighs. “ _God_ , you’re everything, Liam, I can’t--I want--please--”

“I’ve got you,” Liam assures him, leaning down to kiss Louis slowly and thoroughly. He moves his own body so he’s straddling Louis’ thighs, making sure that their cocks are aligned, right on top of each other.

“Oh,” Louis breathes, as Liam starts grinding his hips forwards and back, rubbing their lengths together. “ _Yes_.”

“Shh,” Liam says, and watches Louis’ face flush as he shuts his mouth, trying hard to not let any more sounds out. Interesting. He leans forward for a moment, reaching over to his bedside drawer to pull out his lube, then sits up, drizzling it all over their cocks.

Louis is still silent, eyes dark, watching as Liam grasps both their dicks with his hands, moving his hips so that he’s fucking in and out of his own grip while his cock slides along Louis’. Louis’ arms jump out from his sides, then, gripping the sheets tight as his hips buck up and Liam picks up speed. Louis opens his mouth a couple times, as if he wants to speak or make some sort of noise, but he catches himself right before he does it, snapping his mouth shut when he remembers what Liam had said.

Liam takes pity on the man, leaning down to mouth at Louis’ ear. “Make some noise, babe. I wanna hear you.”

He’s barely finished his sentence when Louis sobs loudly and comes, dragging his clasped hands up so high that he pulls the fitted sheet off of Liam’s mattress. Liam watches his face, cataloguing all the things he recognizes and all the new things he doesn’t, like how hot Louis feels beneath him, the continuous buck of his hips as Liam’s cockhead bumps against his own, the light sheen of sweat on his upper lip.

“Ah, fuck,” Liam mutters, dropping Louis’ probably oversensitive cock and speeding up his hand on his own, moaning unabashedly as he tumbles over the edge and comes on Louis’ stomach and chest.

“Liam,” Louis says, and Liam shakily falls next to him on the bed, panting.

“You pulled off my sheets,” Liam notes, and Louis laughs.

“You’re welcome,” he says, the menace, and then crawls on top of Liam, smushing their chests together and kissing Liam thoroughly. It’s only when they break apart does Liam realize that he’s now got a layer of tacky come spread over his torso.

“Damnit, Louis,” he complains, but Louis just laughs again, kissing Liam once more. They stay like that, slowly making out, until Liam starts to feel a bit gross. He pulls away from Louis, raising an eyebrow. “I need a shower.”

“Oh, how convenient,” Louis replies, smirking and rolling out of bed, standing up and walking over to Liam’s bathroom. “Me too.”

Liam knows that Louis knows just how great his ass looks, and he groans, biting his lip, eagerly tumbling out of bed to chase Louis into the shower.

 

Liam wakes up the next morning later than usual, shifting a bit and the groaning as he feels the tight, sore stretch of his thighs. It takes him a while to remember why, but when he does, a slow smile spreads over his face. It’s definitely been awhile since he’d had any kind of sex at all, let alone the particularly athletic sex he’d had with Louis the night before. It’d been three rounds, at least, one in the bed, then the shower, then again in bed, after they’d dried off. Liam’s ready to make it four, to be honest, and he rolls over to wrap an arm around Louis’ waist.

Except Louis isn’t there. Liam blinks confusedly, suddenly far more awake as he sits up, looking at the empty spot next to him in his bed. Louis had slept over last night, Liam was sure of it, honestly, why would Louis even leave? What the hell?  
He’s tempted to just tell himself he’s overreacting and that Louis is probably in the living room, messing around with Liam’s TV or something, but there’s a part of him that knows that the chance of that being true is actually very small. Liam bites his lip and glances at the clock. It’s already 1:30 in the afternoon--shit, last night must have _really_ worn him out--but Louis has to be home, it’s a goddamn Saturday, and Liam is going to straighten this shit out if it kills him.

He hobbles out of bed, cursing at the ache in his muscles, and pulls on some underwear and sweatpants. He fishes a clean tank out of his drawer and puts that on too, then walks out of his apartment determinedly.

It’s only when he’s knocking on Louis’ door that Liam realizes that he has no idea what he’s going to say. And on top of that, Liam had completely forgotten that Louis isn’t the only one that lives here, and--ah, _shit_.

Harry pulls open the door, and then gives Liam an expressionless stare. “Oh,” he says, and he looks disappointed, walking back into his apartment. “Sorry, I thought you were Louis.”

Liam frowns. “Wait, Louis isn’t here?” he asks, following Harry inside and closing the door behind him. Harry shakes his head. Only then does Liam see the state of the other man, how Harry’s eyes are ringed red and his curls are frizzy and tangled, like he’s been combing through them for the better part of the day. “Where is he?”

Harry gives Liam a dirty look. “Well if I knew, _Liam_ ,” he says, in a sharper tone than Liam’s ever heard, “I wouldn’t be sitting here crying, now would I? Niall doesn’t know either, but he’s staying at a friend’s place this weekend. Trust me, if I had any idea, I’d be out looking for him.”

Liam’s eyebrows raise at Harry’s little explosion and Harry sighs, covering his face with his hands. “‘M sorry,” he mumbles, then smooths his hands over his hair. “I’m just so--I don’t know what happened with him. I talked to him last night, because he’d asked what had happened--” Harry pauses, blushing a bit. “Um, with you. And then the next thing I knew, he was storming out of the apartment, pissed off. He was gone the whole night and then he came in this morning and he was acting _so_ weird, and then--” Harry shakes his head. “Nevermind. Why are _you_ looking for him?” Harry asks, turning to Liam.

Liam gulps. He doesn’t want to tell Harry the truth, because he has no idea what that’ll do, but he’s so tired of tangling himself up in this mess of lies and Harry deserves more, doesn’t he? Liam has no idea how Harry is holding up right now, given that Liam probably broke his heart yesterday and by the way Louis had stormed over last night, Harry must’ve been in a terrible state then, too. He doesn’t want to hurt Harry any more but Harry doesn’t need to be lied to any longer. So Liam takes a deep breath and decides to just throw caution to the wind.

“I’m in love with Louis,” he blurts out, and Harry freezes where he’s standing, then looks up at Liam slowly, blinking. Liam licks his lips. “I lied to you about Zayn. Zayn was never--he’s just my friend, nothing more. But Louis, he--” Liam sighs. “He came over last night to yell at me about turning you down and we--we slept together,” Liam finishes, quietly.

Harry takes a while to process this. “Oh,” he says, finally, nodding. “Yeah, that would explain the--” he clears his throat, “the noises. Last night.”

Liam blushes, biting his lip. “Yeah, that was--”

“Is Louis in love with you?” Harry asks then, wide-eyed and almost looking worried. He’s picking at his lower lip with his fingers.

Liam frowns. “He said he had feelings for me. But that’s--I wanted to talk to you about that, actually.”

Harry laughs. “What’s there to talk about?” he says, smiling, and Liam looks at him, confused. “He loves you. And you love him. There’s really not--well, like, you two don’t need my permission for this, or anything.”

“No, Harry,” Liam says, shaking his head. “That’s not--” he sighs again, squeezing his eyes shut and tilting his head up to the ceiling, willing himself to have the courage to get through all of this. “I’m in love with you too.”

It’s quiet for a while, then, and Liam finally opens his eyes, taking another deep breath before bringing his gaze down to Harry again, who’s just staring at Liam, confused.

“What?” Harry asks. “You just said you were in love with Louis.”

“I’m not--” Liam pauses, thinking of the best way to phrase this. “I’m not in love with _just_ Louis.”

“Wait, wait,” Harry says, waving his hands in front of him. “You love Louis. _And_ me.”

“Yes,” Liam admits.

“So why are you telling me this?” Harry frowns at Liam. “Do you want me to feel like shit because you picked Louis over me?”

“What--Harry, _no_ ,” Liam says, walking over to Harry, but the other man takes a step back. “Harry--”

“Are you just here to rub it in my face, or something?”

“I thought you deserved a...an explanation, or something.”

“Liam, I get it. You chose Louis. You don’t have to _explain_ anything to me,” Harry says, and Liam’s never seen him look this bitter. “And obviously that’s why Louis ran off this morning, isn’t it? He feels bad for me, okay, cool. My two best friends are fucking each other, great. You can--just tell him that it’s fine, and both of you need to stop making such a big deal out of it. Just, like. Let me be. I’ll get over it, you don’t have to twist the knife.”

Liam sighs and rubs at his face with his hands. He’s trying to be patient, but Harry is just jumping to all the wrong conclusions and it’s fucking maddening.

“Harry,” Liam sighs. “Shut up, please.”

Harry blinks at him, taken aback. “What?”

“Just--”

“Don’t fucking barge into _my_ apartment, patronize me, and then tell me to shut up!”

“I didn’t _barge_ into anywhere, okay, and--”

“Get out of my apartment.”

“Harry--”

“Get _out_ of--”

“Louis is in love with you!” Liam yells, and bites his lip.

Harry just blinks at Liam in shock for almost a minute. “ _What_?” he says, finally, disbelieving. Liam shakes his head.

“Louis is in love with you. He’s been in love with you for _years_ , my god, I should’ve known that he’d never legitimately told you. He told me he’d tried but--of _course_ he’d never actually said anything, had he, that’s so fucking like him, and then he’d just assumed that you would never love him back--”

“Louis--” Harry repeats.

“Yeah,” Liam confirms.

“But you--why would Louis sleep with you if--”  
“Like I said, he said he has feelings for me too.” Liam sighs.

“Wait a minute. Wait, fuck,” Harry says, walking over to his couch and sitting down, putting his face in his palms. “You love Louis. And me. You love me too.”

“Yes,” Liam says, walking over and sitting next to Harry. “That’s correct.”

“Louis loves me. And he loves you too.”

“That’s probably why he freaked out this morning, I tried to tell him last night that I wasn’t choosing between the two of you, that I wanted you _both_ , but he wouldn’t have it, and he probably--”

“Wait, _what_?” Harry asks, looking up at Liam, even more confused. “ _Both_?”

Liam blushes. “Um, yeah, I--” he clears his throat. “I kind of wanted, y’know--”

“A three-way?” Harry asks, raising an eyebrow and looking a bit unimpressed.

“No, not--well, yes, obviously, but not just--not _just_ a three-way,” Liam sputters, trying to defend himself. “I wanted--I _still_ want--a _real_ relationship. With both of you. All of us three, together. Because I’d thought--well, I’d hoped--that you, maybe, um, could have...loved us both. Me _and_ Louis.”

It’s quiet again as Harry process all of this information. “Oh,” he says, finally, looking down at his hands. “Wow, fuck.”

Liam clears his throat. “I’ve looked it up, these relationships, and a lot of people are in them, it’s not, like--that weird, actually, it’s called a triad, and--”  
“I know what it’s called, Liam,” Harry says, looking up at him. He looks defeated, though, and his eyes dart between Liam’s before he bites his lip. “I just don’t know if--if it’s something I could do.”

Liam feels his heart drop into his stomach. He’d never expected _Harry_ , of all people, to not kind of see the upside of this, or to say no to it, actually. He’d always seemed particularly chill about most things, really, and this is--it’s not what Liam had been hoping for.

“Oh,” he says, very, very quietly, and then he doesn’t know if he can say anything else at all. Realization hits him like a brick wall, and he reviews the facts he knows: Harry has feelings for Liam. Harry just discovered how Louis feels about him. Harry doesn’t want to be in a relationship with Liam _and_ Louis. And it makes him sick to his stomach to come to the only possible conclusion--Harry’s not in love with Louis. Harry doesn’t love Louis like Louis loves him, like Liam loves Louis, even, he’s always thought their relationship wasn’t that serious, and. Fuck. This is going to break Louis’ heart. Liam feels guilt sweep over him as he thinks about how Louis’ going to feel knowing that Harry’s willing to be in a relationship with Liam but not with him.

“I don’t know, um.” Harry bites his lip. “What do we do now?”

Liam laughs bitterly, then smiles at the ground, rubbing at his hairline. He can’t do this, not in this way. He has to let Harry know that it’s Louis he should be with, not himself. He knows, in his gut, that Harry must love Louis, but it’s just Liam being around that’s making Harry think differently, that’s making him pick and choose when, in all honestly, Liam shouldn’t even be an option.

“We let the first relationship take its course, don’t we?” Liam says, trying not to cry though he’s breaking apart inside. “Before I butted in.”

“Liam,” Harry tries, but Liam’s already up and at Harry’s door, ready to walk out.

“He’s the one you need, Harry,” Liam says, taking a shaky breath. “I don’t know if--I don’t know how you feel about him, how you felt about him before I showed up, but you two are fucking _meant_ for each other, and I told Louis the same thing, you know that? Because it’s true. I’ve never seen a more perfect couple than you two.”

“Liam, I--” Harry says again, but Liam walks out quickly, closing the door behind him and sighing. He can feel himself starting to cry, the surge of emotions rushing up into his chest, and he lets his head fall backwards onto the door, trying to hold back his tears.

“Liam?” a voice says, and Liam looks down to see Louis, his cheeks flushed. “What’re you doing--”

“Louis--” Liam interrupts, but then the door behind him opens and Liam stumbles back a bit, falling onto Harry.

“Liam--” Harry calls, then reacts fast and reaches out and holds Liam’s shoulders in place before Liam knocks them both over. “Oh.” Then Harry looks up, surprised. “Louis?”

“Harry?” Louis questions, and then his gaze zeros in on where Harry’s touching Liam. He licks his lips, but he doesn’t look mad. In fact, he looks the complete opposite.

“Zayn,” Zayn says, as he walks up the stairs and over to his and Liam’s apartment, smirking. “Wow, what a fun game. Do we all know each other’s names now?”

“Zayn,” Liam says, curiously, but Zayn shakes his head, then looks pointedly at Louis, who blushes. Zayn slips into their apartment then, and Liam hears the _click_ of the lock. Shit.

Liam looks to Louis, about to open his mouth to explain what’s actually happening, when he notices a couple things; first off, Harry’s fingers are literally _digging_ into his shoulders by now, tighter by the second, making Liam wince. Secondly, Louis is standing in front of them now, cheeks red, a fucking bouquet of roses in each hand. He’s clutching them to his chest, eyes wide, his expression one of fear-wrought anticipation.

“I, uh--” Louis says, finally, licking his lips again. “Um, these are for you?” He holds both hands out and Liam finally pulls himself out of Harry’s tight grip, rubbing his shoulders and then stepping forward and taking one of the bundles from Louis’ hands.

“Louis,” he starts, but he’s getting choked up, shit. Louis just--oh my god, does this mean--

“Harry,” Louis says, instead, looking at the taller man, who hasn’t moved yet. “I need to tell you something.”  
“Oh my god,” Harry whispers, and Liam squeezes his eyes shut, afraid of what might come next. “Louis--”

“I’m in love with you,” Louis says, and it’s such a fucking ridiculous scene, him standing out here in the hallway of their apartment building, Liam with one bouquet in his hand, Louis with the other one still held out for Harry to take, Harry standing still, dumbstruck. It’s like something from a cheesy rom com, and Liam barks out a laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Both Louis and Harry turn to look at him, but Liam starts crying with his next breath, hand covering his eyes.

“Um,” he says, shakily. “Thank you, Louis, I, uh--I have to go, though.”

Liam walks forward, moving past a very confused Louis, trying to get out of the building, to be _anywhere_ but here, but before he can reach the staircase, something yanks him back.

“Liam, _no_ ,” Louis scolds, firmly, tightening his grip on Liam’s top and practically dragging him back over to the apartment, pushing Harry along with them. “We’re going to sit down and talk about like this like _adults_. Which, in case you’ve all forgotten, we legally are, goddamnit.”

 

Louis makes lunch for all of them, tinkering away in the kitchen, completely unaware of the current tension between Harry and Liam. It’s a bit awkward because Liam is sitting at the sofa in their living room, trying not to look anywhere but the ground, because he knows that if he makes eye contact with Harry, he’ll start crying all over again. Harry, however, is pacing up a storm, walking back and forth in the room, combing his fingers through his hair and sighing every thirty seconds.

“Voila,” Louis says, stepping out into the room. Harry stops walking and watches, amused, as Louis sets a tray down on the coffee table. “Lunch a la Louis.”  
Liam looks up at the food. It’s just peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a bowl of chips, but it’s been made with so much love and affection by someone who _never_ cooks, and that’s enough to have a fresh wave of tears wash over him.

“Jesus, Liam,” Louis chides, sitting down next to Liam and swinging an arm over his shoulders. “Babe, don’t--”

“Louis,” Harry says, then, sitting down on the armchair and biting his lip. “What is this all about?”

“Oh. Right.” Louis stands up and walks over to the kitchen again, coming back with the second bouquet of roses, which he holds out for Harry to take. It’s then that Liam realizes that he’s still got his own bouquet clasped tightly in his hands, as if he’s afraid they’re going to disappear.

“These are for you,” Louis says, pointedly, and waits for Harry to slowly raise a hand and take the flowers from Louis. “Because I love you.”

Harry gulps. “Okay,” he says, but his voice wavers a bit.

“And I gave one to Liam,” Louis states, taking a deep breath, “because I’m in love with him too.”

Liam feels his stomach swoop. Harry sighs. “Okay.”

“I love you both, and I--Liam?” Louis asks, turning and looking to Liam for help. Oh, that’s right, Louis still doesn’t have any idea that Liam and Harry have already talked about this, or what Harry had said, or what Liam had accepted his fate to be.

“Um--” Liam begins, ready to break the news to Louis as gently as possible, but Harry speaks up.

“Louis,” he says, standing up, eyes darting over the older man’s face. “Is this real? Is this honestly for real?”

“I--of _course_ it is, Harry, why would I--”

“I need to go,” Liam reiterates, but Louis turns to him and frowns.

“Zayn’s not going to let you into your apartment, he promised me that, until we’ve all talked this through, okay, and I don’t know why you’re ducking out like this, you seemed so ready to do this last night--”

“Louis--” Liam tries, but Louis seems more determined than ever, barreling on.

“And I know it’s weird and I’m sorry I bailed but it was only for a little bit, I just needed to wrap my head around it, okay, and I believe you, I believe that I’m not your second choice, okay, Liam, and I want this, I want it so bad--”

“ _Louis_ \--”

“And I ran into Zayn when I was walking around the park all confused and he told me how much you cared, how much you love me and Harry, and he helped me buy these fucking cheesy-ass flowers for you two--which, by the way, were _very_ expensive, okay--and he told me he’d help with this and a lot of thought and money’s gone into it so I don’t want either of you to fight it right now, I just want both of you to shut up and listen to me, because I actually think that we might be able to make this work, and I thought you did too, Liam--”

“Yeah, okay, but that was before Harry said _no_ ,” Liam interrupts, suddenly, unable to hold it in anymore, and Louis shuts up immediately, blinking at Liam, shocked. “Fuck,” Liam says, putting his face in his hands. “Louis, I--” he mutters, looking back up at Louis, but Louis’ not even looking at Liam now, just staring at Harry, and it looks like Louis is physically shrinking by the second.

“You don’t--you don’t want--” Louis starts, his voice breaking a bit. He clears his throat and Liam can see the tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes.

“I didn’t--Louis, I didn’t think--” Harry licks his lips, looking from Louis to Liam. “I didn’t know you felt like this, okay?”

Liam laughs bitterly. “So what, did you just think I _lied_ to you, or something?” he asks, glaring at Harry. “Like I was trying to--to _use_ you, or--” Liam stands up, looking down at the bouquet still clutched in his now trembling hands, then shakes his head and sets it down gently on the coffee table. “Louis, I--I can’t. It’s you two, you know that. You don’t need me,” he says, quietly, clenching his fists to calm himself and sighing.

“Louis, _no_ ,” Harry barges in then, looking at Liam again, then at Louis, wildly. “It’s--I don’t deserve you, okay? _God_ , I just--I feel like shit, because you--you love me so much, and I never noticed, did I? I just kept--I talked about--” Harry licks his lips, glancing at Liam, “other people, and I never thought of how _you_ felt, and I was just waiting for you to say something, I guess, I thought this was just something on the side for you, never this serious, and--I’m sorry.” Harry shakes his head. “I love you, Louis, obviously, I always have. It’s been such a constant in my life, I’ve never even tried to fight it or thought any different. I never even defined it in my own head but, Louis, of course I love you. I’ve loved you for ages, and I’m such an idiot for never realizing it and--and taking advantage of you the way I did. But you should be with Liam, okay? Liam is--he’ll take care of you. And I haven’t. I’m the worst, actually. And I’ll be fine, you know I will.”

Liam feels like he’s been punched in the gut, simultaneous feelings of joy, gratefulness, and heartbreak tearing through him. But Louis just scowls at Harry, then looks between him and Liam incredulously.

“Are you two fucking _kidding_ me?” he cries, crossing his arms. “I fucking--I was tearing myself apart trying to figure out how I felt, and I _finally_ come to terms with my feelings and I’m ready to do this with you two, and you’re fucking--what kind of bullshit savior complex is this? Liam wants me to be with Harry and Harry wants me to be with Liam. Real fucking great.”

Liam bites his lip guiltily and looks up to see Harry doing the same. They make eye contact and it’s like the most intense conversation Liam’s ever had, but he gets it now, sees that Harry was just trying to do the same as Liam himself, wanting Louis to have the best. Just wanting Louis to be happy, because they both knew how important that was to both of them, how much Louis needed love more than either of them. And he sees the weight lift off of Harry’s shoulders when he realizes the same, his face relaxing and his eyes brightening as he keeps looking into Liam’s eyes and gives him a slow smile. Liam takes a shuddering inhale and then shakes his head, laughing.

“Louis,” he starts, and Louis looks over at him, unamused. “You have no idea how fucking lucky you are, do you?”

“Oh fucking bite me, Liam--”

“You have two men so in love with you that they were ready to break their own hearts to save yours,” Harry finishes, and Louis looks to him, then back to Liam, and frowns.

“What the fuck?” he says, stepping back. “Did you two fucking _plan_ this--”

“No, we--” Liam looks to Harry. “Harry--”  
“Liam--” Harry says, and then he’s pulling Liam into his arms and kissing him, just as intensely and thoroughly as the first time. Liam melts into it even more than he had then, finally letting himself go as Harry places a palm on either side of his neck, rubbing his thumbs along the underside of Liam’s jaw. By the time they finally break apart, Liam feels more dazed than usual, blinking his eyes open slowly to Harry’s shy smile.

“Hi,” Harry says, tenderly, and Liam’s stomach erupts with butterflies.

“Hi,” Liam responds, and then someone clears their throat.

“Hi,” Louis says, hands on his hips, lips pursed, though his eyes are twinkling. Liam beams and bites his lip.

“Fuck,” he mutters. He’s never been this happy in his _life_. “This is really happening, isn’t it? Us--we’re really doing this?”

Louis gives Harry a pointed look and Harry blushes, nodding eagerly. Louis turns to Liam then, a sly smile on his face as he walks over to the man. Liam opens his mouth to speak but it’s useless since Louis sticks his tongue into it immediately. Liam lets out a surprised sound but pulls Louis closer by his waist, falling into this kiss as well. It’s just as amazing as last night and Liam has no doubt that it’s still going to be amazing years from now. He blushes as he realizes that he’s already thinking of the future, assuming that they’ll all still be together, but he doesn’t want any other turnout but that one.

Louis pulls away, breathing heavily as he bumps noses with Liam. “And now, a special treat for you,” he says, as he walks backwards and then pulls Harry next to him before smirking at Liam and giving Harry a solid, open-mouthed kiss, one that the taller man easily falls into. It’s dirty from the get-go and Liam realizes that Louis is putting on a bit of a show since he thinks that this is the first time that Liam’s ever seen them kiss, which. Liam isn’t going to try to prove Louis wrong--at least not right now--because it doesn’t seem like the most appropriate time to do it. Plus, seeing them kiss in real life is magnificent, especially getting to watch their bodies move along with their mouths, the way that Louis’ hand skims under Harry’s shirt--just like he did with Liam last night--and the way that Harry grabs Louis’ ass. Liam can feel himself getting hard already, just from this, and it’s almost dizzying, how much action he’s getting at once after months of nothing.

“ _God_ ,” Harry whispers reverently, as Louis pulls away, and Louis just blushes and bites his lip.

“My name’s Louis.”

“Shut up,” Harry says, pulling Louis closer and brushing some hair off of his face. He sighs. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a dick. I should’ve--god, Louis, I never even noticed how you felt, did I? And I guess felt the same but I always thought you just wanted something casual so I never--”

“Shh.” Louis rubs a thumb along Harry’s cheekbone. Liam feels his own heart flutter and he tries to fight down the anxiety he’s getting over the idea that Louis and Harry might just want only each other now, that Liam was only there to help give them a jump start. “It’s--I mean, I’m sad we didn’t get to do this before, that it took us so long to figure this out, but--” Louis turns to look at Liam, then, and smiles. “We needed Liam to do it, didn’t we?”

Liam blushes, and Harry looks up at him and beams, reaching an arm out so Liam can come into the hug. Which he does, of course, only a little bit hesitant. Louis must catch it, because he intertwines his fingers into Liam’s and whispers into his ear.

“No such thing as second choices.”

 

If sex with one person he loves had been amazing, sex with two people he loves is truly earth-shattering. Liam can barely breathe, he doesn’t think he has properly for at least a half hour. Harry and Louis are _everywhere_ , it seems, and Liam can’t do much more than just lay down and sigh as the two of them work their way up and down his body.

“Look at him, the lazy ass,” Louis teases, as Liam moans when Harry bites his nipple. “Making us do all the work.”  
“I’m not complaining,” Harry mutters, as he actually _nuzzles_ into Liam’s chest hair. “You already got to have sex with him, it’s my turn now. Go sit and watch.”

Louis grumbles but it’s lighthearted, and, after a few minutes of watching Harry and Liam make out, he certainly doesn’t seem to be fighting Harry’s order anymore, a hand wrapped around his own cock.

Harry nips at Liam’s ear before speaking. “I wanna fuck you, Liam, can--is that--”  
“ _Yes_ ,” Liam hisses, his hips bucking up just at the thought of it, and Harry hums contently as he sucks a hickey onto Liam’s throat.   
“Maybe Louis can finally make himself useful,” Harry suggests coyly, and Liam watches as Louis flips Harry off and pulls out a bottle of lube and a few condoms, all of which he proceeds to throw at Harry’s head.

“Asshole,” Harry says, but giggles while doing so, and Liam watches and gulps as Harry coats a few of his fingers with lube.

“Hey,” Louis says, quietly, laying himself down next to Liam and leaning up on his elbow, cupping Liam’s face. “You good?”

Liam gives Louis a nervous laugh. “I just--um, it’s been a while? I don’t--I know Harry won’t hurt me, but it’s still, y’know. Daunting.”

Louis smiles. “I’ve got you,” he says, leaning in for a kiss. Liam lets himself be totally absorbed in it, moaning as Louis nips at his lips, so engrossed that it’s only a little while later, when Louis moves to kiss down his chest, that he realizes that Harry’s got three fingers in him already.

“Oh _shit_ ,” he curses, his hips swiveling, and Harry spreads a palm out over his hipbones, holding him still. Liam blushes at the restriction and moans again when Louis places a small kiss at the tip of his cock.

Liam can feel himself blurt out some precome and Louis licks it up immediately, kissing the head again and then taking as much of Liam’s cock into his mouth as he can. Liam groans and tries to buck his hips up once more but Harry’s hand is still on him, holding him down. He shudders and feels himself go lax, completely at the mercy of the two men above him.

He feels as if he’s been on the edge for ages when Harry finally rolls a condom onto himself and lines up with his entrance. He looks down, watching Louis’ head bob on his cock, and moans as Louis tongues his slit while Harry enters him. Harry goes slow, so slow, inching in until Liam is a boneless, sweaty mess when Harry’s cock is completely inside him, Louis still working him over with his mouth.

“Please,” Liam begs, but he’s not even sure what he’s asking for. Part of him wants Louis to stop, because he knows he’s going to come too soon, and the other part of him wants Harry to just fucking _fuck_ him already. Both the other guys seem to get the gist of Liam’s plea, though, because Louis pulls off right as Harry lifts Liam’s legs over his own shoulders and starts pounding into him.

Liam cries out, eyes rolling back in his head as his hips finally lift up. He feels himself clench without realizing it and Harry yelps, hips stuttering before he bites at Liam’s calf and continues fucking into him.

And Louis, Louis is a force to be reckoned with, starting by between kissing Harry while jacking Liam off torturously slow and then moving to kiss Liam while straddling his hips so that Louis’ ass is grinding against Liam’s cock.

Liam can feel himself close to coming and maybe it is a bit fast but he doesn’t even care; he’s so suspended in the moment, all three of their moans filling up the room, so connected that Liam can’t tell where his body ends and theirs begin.

“‘M gonna come,” he manages to slur out, and Harry takes that as a sign to move even faster than Liam had thought possible while Louis grinds down with more pressure, enough to finally have Liam crying out as he comes.

“Babe,” Louis coos, after Liam’s done, and Liam pulls Louis down into a harsh, biting kiss.

“Harry, where-- _fuck_ \--where’s the lube--” Liam pants out, as Harry continues to fuck him relentlessly. It’s Louis who hands the lube over to him, though, since Harry seems a bit preoccupied with his current task, if the flushed, possessive look on his face is anything to go by. Liam curses as his hands shake when he squirts out the lube, partly because Harry’s still having a go at his prostate and partly because the whole bed is moving with the force of his thrusts, but as soon as his fingers are slicked up, he’s got them at Louis’ entrance, circling them around just a couple times before sinking one in.

“Oh my god, _Liam_ \--” Louis cries out, and Liam works it in and out until he’s slick and open enough for a second. “ _Yes_ ,” Louis moans, as Liam twists his wrist until Louis is sitting back up and riding his fingers. Liam glances behind Louis and sees Harry’s gaze focused on Louis’ ass, obviously watching the slick slide of Liam’s hand, which is moving in the same rhythm as Harry’s own cock.

“I’m--fuck--” Harry stutters, his body jolting.

“Come in Louis,” Liam says then, completely out of the blue, surprising even himself, and the other two men pause for a second. Liam supposes he’d just assumed that Harry and Louis didn’t always use condoms with each other, but he immediately realizes that he could’ve been wrong about it all. He opens his mouth to take back his request, not wanting to push either of the other men out of their comfort zones, but Harry recovers almost instantly and doesn’t even question it, waits for Liam to pull his fingers out before peeling off the condom and sliding his cock into Louis. He doesn’t really get much past the head, though, before he’s biting down on Louis’ shoulder and coming, moaning into Louis’ skin.

“Fuck,” Louis mumbles, when Harry slides out of him, and his hand goes to his own cock before Liam swats it away and gives him a once-over.

“Turn around,” he says, not really in a demanding way, but with enough of a commanding tone that Louis doesn’t fight him, just complies and moves so his ass is facing Liam. Liam automatically pulls Louis closer and, before Louis can even finish gasping out his name, sticks his tongue as far as it’ll go into the other man.

“Li-- _am_ ,” Louis yells, his voice breaking, as Liam licks Louis out, the taste in his mouth a heady, wonderful mix of both Harry and Louis. He scoops his tongue in and out until he can’t taste Harry’s come anymore and then pulls Louis on him even more, moving him back and forth so he’s fucking himself on Liam’s tongue. “Oh my go--shit, _shit_ ,” Louis spits out, and Liam sees Harry move forward and reach down, probably to jack Louis off.

When Louis comes, Liam feels him tighten around his tongue and he moans into the heat of Louis’ ass, which just makes Louis cry out again. The man stays on top of him as he rides his orgasm out, shaking, before weakly stumbling off of Liam’s chest and onto the empty space next to him on the bed.

“Oh, god,” Louis says, eyes closed, a hand running through his sweat-damp hair. “Oh my--”

Louis lets out a surprised sound as Harry kisses him, probably to shut him up, but he just moans into it, sighing happily when Harry pulls away. Liam smiles, too, looking at the both of them, and then Harry crawls up the bed to kiss Liam again, to pant into his mouth and bite his lips. It should be maybe a little bit gross because of where Liam’s mouth has just been but Harry doesn’t seem to mind, licking into Liam’s mouth as if he’s trying to taste himself on Liam’s tongue. Liam shivers pleasantly at the thought.

“I vote we do that at least once a day,” Louis mumbles, and Harry laughs into Liam’s neck as Liam combs through his slightly tangled curls.

“We’d be dead in a month,” Liam counters, and Louis sits up, cocking his head.

“But it’d be the greatest month of our life,” he notes, and Liam just shakes his head, reaching up and pulling Louis down on top of him.

The three of them just lay there for a while, Liam trying as hard as he can to not get sentimental about how he’s exactly where he’d hoped to have been a few months back, in the middle of a Harry-and-Louis sandwich.

“Hey,” Harry mutters, yawning. “I love you two.”

“That’s nice,” Liam and Louis say, at the same time, and then laugh. Harry pouts.

“I’d fight you guys but I’m too tired.”

“Don’t fall asleep,” Liam scolds. “We’re all disgusting, and so is this bed.”

“I vote we shower and then go nap at Liam’s,” Louis pipes in, grinning. “He’s got a very comfortable bed.”

“Yeah, but it’s not as big as yours,” Liam notes. Louis shrugs.

“I’ll just pile on top of the two of you, then. Or we’ll suffocate Harry in the middle. Either way.”  
“Good plan,” Liam replies, as Harry whines next to them.

“I can already tell that you two are going to be teamed up against me all the time.”

“Stop complaining,” Louis groans, sitting up. “Now, are we cleaning up, or not?” He climbs out of bed, purposefully crawling over Liam and Harry so that he’s elbowing and kneeing them in tender places as he does so. Liam and Harry whine until Louis is finally off of them and in the bathroom.

Harry sighs, bringing his hand over to play with Liam’s chest hair. “Hey, I, uh--I’m sorry. About earlier.”

Liam feels his heart skip a beat. “About what?” he asks, playing dumb, smiling as he watches Harry blush.

“Liam, don’t--” he tries, but Liam leans down, giving Harry a sweet, loving kiss. “It’s okay,” he breathes, as they break apart. “I got why you were doing it, even if it was the stupidest reason I’ve ever heard.”

“Hey, not fair. You were basically doing the same thing.” Harry pouts. “I just wanted you to be happy.”

“ _This_ makes me happy,” Liam says, smiling again. “You and Louis. All three of us, together like this, trying to make something work. Having faith in this relationship.”

Harry finally smiles back up at him. “Okay,” he says, leaning up for another kiss. The two of them make out lazily for a few more minutes before they hear Louis shout from the bathroom.

“Are you two actually going to make me bathe _alone_?” he cries, over the sound of the water. “What the fuck is the point of having _two_ boyfriends if neither one of them is going to blow me in the shower?”

Harry laughs into the kiss, breaking them apart. Liam reaches down and touches their noses together.   
“You go ahead. I’ll just shower at mine.” Liam raises an eyebrow. “I think you two have a lot to talk about.”

Harry blushes again, nodding, getting out of bed and pulling Liam up too. He gives Liam a quick kiss on the cheek. “Give us a half hour.”

Liam smirks. “I want a full recap.”

“Get out of here, you perv,” Harry comments, smacking Liam on the ass as Liam laughs, stepping into his pants and making his way out of their apartment. He tries the door for his own apartment before he remembers what Zayn did. Oh, right.

“Zayn?” he calls, knocking on the door.

“Go away,” Zayn replies, and Liam rolls his eyes.

“We all made up. We’re all good, it’s--we worked it out.”

Liam hears the lock click and then Zayn opens the door with a suspicious look on his face. “You’re telling the truth?” he enquires, before he sees Liam’s state of undress and the multitude of bruises that must be littered across his torso. “Jesus, Liam, pull your pants up.”

Liam glances down and sees how low his sweats have fallen, the waistband just at the start of his pubic hair. He’s also not even wearing his tank anymore--it must be tossed somewhere onto Harry and Louis’ bedroom floor. He laughs, still a bit amazed at what’s just happened, and Zayn rolls his eyes, opening the door and letting Liam in.

“Hey,” Zayn calls, as Liam walks over to his bedroom. Liam turns around. “I’m really happy for you, bro. I’m really happy it all worked out.”

Liam bites his lip, trying to hold back his smile, but he just nods at Zayn, giving him a silent thanks. “Me too,” he says, blushing a bit, and runs into his room, giggling but embarrassed, slamming the door shut on Zayn’s teasing laughter.

 

\------

 

“So I’ve called this meeting because I think we should discuss some stuff,” Liam says, one night after work, when they’re all piled into Harry and Louis’ bed.

Louis rolls his eyes. “The only time I want to hear you sounding like a manager is when you come home dressed like you are today and I want to roleplay as your sexy, horny secretary,” he purrs, crawling across the bed, settling into Liam’s lap.

“Heyyy, what about me?” Harry pouts.

“You can be the janitor that walks in on Liam fucking me over his desk,” Louis says, with a mischievous grin. Harry seems content, at least.

Liam blushes, but not just because he’s now got a writhing Louis on him; Louis had said ‘ _home_ ,’ like this is where Liam belongs, and--well, truthfully, he’s barely slept at his place at all this last week. But it kind of worked out well, because Niall’s been so fed up with how loud all of the three of them are when they--well, on certain nights, let’s just say--that he’s basically taken to sleeping in Liam’s bedroom in the other apartment. Zayn was getting a bit annoyed that he could hear them through his wall but Liam had bought him a pair of noise-cancelling headphones out of guilt so he hasn’t complained since.

“Louis,” Liam says, holding Louis still and giving him a stern look--though he’s already hard by now, and by the way Louis is smirking, the other man knows it too. “I’m serious. Please?”

Louis groans. “ _Fine_ ,” he says, falling onto the bed and then scootching back until he’s perched on Harry’s lap instead, the two of them leaning back against the headboard. Harry just smiles, unfazed, and starts combing his fingers through Louis’ hair. Liam tries his hardest to not focus on how Louis is slowly grinding back onto Harry’s crotch now, or how Harry is biting his lip, his hand sliding under Louis’ shirt, rubbing up and down his torso.

“Anyways,” Liam continues, clearing his throat. “I want to make sure we’re all, like, comfortable with everything concerning our relationship.”

Louis raises an eyebrow. “Haven’t we all given--and proved--” Harry snickers, and Louis smirks along, “--our consent?”

Liam sighs. “Yes, but. There’s still other stuff to talk about, to make sure we all communicate, and get along, and don’t get jealous, and--”

“ _Liam_ ,” Louis whines, “why do we have to talk about all this shit?”

Liam gives Louis a knowing look. “All of our problems stemmed from none of us telling each other how we felt.”

Louis groans and Harry gives him a quick kiss on the side of his head. “Liam’s right. We should talk.”

Louis sighs petulantly and crosses his arms. “Fine. I won’t get jealous. I love both of you. Feel free to fuck each other whenever you want.”

“Okay,” Liam says. “See, that’s a good thing to talk about. Are we all okay with the individual couples within this relationship sleeping together without the third person involved?”

Louis snorts. “Why wouldn’t we be?”  
Liam shrugs. “Sometimes triads don’t work like that. Sometimes people want to only have sex when all three people are there, y’know? Couples can still go on dates and stuff, but since sex is such an intimate thing, some people don’t want to do it with only two out of three, y’know?”

Harry frowns, nodding. “Well, is that--do _you_ feel that way?” he asks, seriously. Louis stops moving in Harry’s lap, looking guilty, as if he hadn’t thought of that, but Liam blushes, immediately thinking back to how he’d first seen Harry and Louis. He still hasn’t told them about his knowledge of the videos, is still too embarrassed to reveal that tidbit--though, to be fair, neither Harry nor Louis have mentioned anything about the videos to him either. Regardless, even now, after being integrated into their lives, he still doesn’t feel jealous upon seeing the two of them together, being lovey-dovey or holding hands or anything like that, because he knows that they love him too.

“No,” he answers, and Harry instantly looks relieved. Liam smiles. “I trust you guys. I know that--well, I’m _hoping_ that you two tell me everything, and of course I’d love to know about when you guys sleep together, but it’s not something you _have_ to tell me--”

“Liam, of _course_ we’ll tell you when we fuck,” Louis says, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Harry looks a bit nervous, though, biting his lip and looking at Louis, worried, and Liam’s hit with the realization that it could be over the same thing Liam was just thinking about. He shakes it off, though, smiling at Liam after a moment.

“Yeah,” he confirms, and then Louis pulls Liam forward onto him, kissing him thoroughly.

“Now let’s stop talking and get down to business,” he says, pulling away, undoing Liam’s tie and unbuttoning his shirt, fingers moving nimbly over Liam’s muscles. “Fuck me, Mr. Payne.”

And, well. Liam can’t really be blamed if he loses his train of thought after that.

 

It’s only a week or so after that that Liam has to pull three late nights in a row at work. It’s the end of the fiscal year and he’s swamped with review meetings and revenue charts and he barely manages to eat or sleep properly all four days.

The first night he automatically hobbles into Louis and Harry’s bed, snuggling into Harry’s warm back and falling asleep instantly, but in the morning, when he finds he’s being roped into sex by the two of them when he has absolutely no time to indulge in it, he has to shake his head sadly and jump into the shower, guilt curling through his stomach. He decides he’ll just sleep at his own place for the next few nights.

“Fine,” Louis says curtly, when Liam tells them his plan, after he comes out of the bathroom. “Just _stay_ there.” Louis turns and walks angrily into the kitchen. Liam sighs and rubs at his eyes.

“Harry, I--”

“Shh, babe, it’s okay,” Harry assures him, pulling Liam into a long, comforting hug. “It’s gonna be a rough week, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Liam agrees, melting into Harry’s touch as Harry gently massages his shoulders. “I just don’t want to have to say no to you guys, and I’m barely going to be home, so it just makes sense--”

“You don’t have to explain it to me,” Harry says, pulling back and smiling at Liam. He swipes a thumb underneath Liam’s eyes where he’s already got dark circles forming. “You know Louis, he just feels a bit rejected. He’ll get over it soon enough.”

“Yeah,” Liam repeats, letting Harry pull him into a kiss that’s just as warm as his hug. He has to break it sooner than he wants to, though, giving Harry a sad look as he puts his work clothes on--he’s already got a few drawers for himself in their dresser, so he just pulls out a shirt and a tie--and walks into the kitchen.

“Here,” Louis says, placing a large travel mug of coffee on the counter, which Liam smiles at gratefully. He walks behind the counter and pulls Louis into a deep, intense kiss, not breaking away until just before he thinks he’s going to pass out from the lack of oxygen. Louis’ lips are slick and his eyes are dark as he watches Liam cup his face.

“I love you,” Liam says, and Louis immediately rolls his eyes, though Liam’s sure he’s blushing a bit as well.

“Whatever,” Louis says, then pushes Liam away. “Go get your ass to work, Mr. Payne.”

Liam blushes this time, trying to not let the memory that the name triggers flood his brain, but he can’t help it, driving to work with a hard-on that ends up being frustratingly difficult to get rid of.

 

Friday rolls along, and Liam’s never been more grateful for the end of the work week before. He still gets back pretty late, though, and Zayn’s not home, out on a date or something. Niall’s back in his old room and so is Liam, though it’s hard to feel like he’s home when he’s in here. The past few nights have been awful, with Liam only averaging a few hours of sleep a night since he’s practically unable to fall asleep alone anymore.

He doesn’t feel tired when he gets back to his room, though, and he knows that Harry and Louis are out at a bar tonight, probably getting smashed, and he sighs, wishing he was out there with them. He can imagine how good it would feel to kiss grenadine off of Harry’s lips, to have Louis grinding against him on the dance floor, and--he reaches down to palm himself absentmindedly, sighing at the temporary relief it brings him. He’s been getting fucked so often and so thoroughly lately that just three nights without any sort of orgasm have him getting hard faster than ever before, and he’s bucking into his palm before he knows it, cursing as he unbuttons his pants and pushes them off the bed with his boxers.

He sighs as his cock springs up onto his stomach, leaking a bit already. Liam bites his lip, a bit torn because--he kind of wants to call Harry and Louis home and have the two of them tear him apart and put him back together, but he also doesn’t want to ruin their night out. So he starts jacking himself off slowly, trying to imagine just how the two of them would reward him after such a long week of work: Harry would kiss him slowly, thoroughly, and Louis--well, Liam would want Louis to eat him out, honestly, his quick, sharp tongue working over Liam’s hole until Liam was shaking, and then one of them would fuck him while the other one would sit on his face--Liam gasps as his hips lift up off the bed, his cock getting redder by the minute.

It’s not enough, though, just imagining things, especially with how much he’s _not_ had to imagine anything recently, so he finds himself horny and frustrated, annoyed that he’s unable to really get himself off properly. He debates watching porn for a second, something quick to push him over the edge, but he knows he’ll feel gross about it afterwards. He wishes he’d saved some of the dirty pictures Harry and Louis always send him on Snapchat or something, or--

Liam freezes, his eyes snapping open. Oh my god. How could he have--he’s an idiot, really. Maybe it’s just because his brain is so worn-out from work.

Liam reaches over to his side table, pulling his laptop onto the bed next to him. His stomach flutters as he opens his browser and goes to his bookmarks--okay, maybe it’s a bit weird that he and Harry and Louis haven’t talked about this yet, actually--and he pulls up their page. He clicks on the most recent video, memories of it taking over his mind, the way Harry had whined Liam’s name. He bites his lip, watching the screen load, his stomach fluttering with anticipation, and sees Harry and Louis on the bed, smiling at each other before leaning in for a long kiss. Liam starts thumbing at the head of his cock. It takes Liam a second to realize that this video is one he hasn’t seen before, though--he must have missed it when he’d looked through their past videos--but it gives him a surge of excitement at seeing something new.

This video looks shorter than the ones before, and Liam notices soon after that it’s because Harry and Louis are getting themselves off at the same time, both of their biceps straining as they tug at each other’s cocks. Liam feels himself blurt out more precome onto his fingers and he moans, fingertips tracing down his own cock before he spreads some precome down the length and starts jacking himself off, eyes glued to the screen.

“ _God_ ,” he hears Harry breathe out, and Liam whines, reaching a hand down to play with his balls. “Louis--”

“Yeah, yeah,” Louis replies. Both the men have their eyes shut and their heads are close; they’re practically breathing into each other’s mouths. “I want--”

“ _Yes_ ,” Harry hisses, and Liam can see his arm slow down on Louis’ cock, probably teasing him a bit. “Say it,” Harry urges, and Louis blushes. For a second it looks like he’s not going to follow Harry’s order but then he moans like he actually wants to, and it takes him a moment before he speaks again.

“Liam--” he gasps, and Liam’s brain shorts out. Louis moans Liam’s name again and Liam’s hand speeds up on his cock without thinking about it, his hips bucking up as he gasps and comes, his cock jerking upwards. He’s trying to let himself get lost in his orgasm but his mind starts buzzing immediately, a flush traveling down his chest as Liam realizes that this--this is a _new_ video. Harry and Louis shot this recently, they _had_ to, and Liam had clicked on it without even realizing it. He looks at the screen again, breathless and boneless as he watches Louis come with a cry and Liam’s name on his lips, Harry following in an identical fashion right after. Fuck. Liam pauses the video right after Harry comes and pulls Louis in for a kiss. They’ve got matching smiles on their faces, shy and coy, as if the entire internet doesn’t know how they just got each other off to their boyfriend, something they think the aforementioned man doesn’t know either. Liam looks around the screen, trying to take the setting in, now that he knows where it took place. He recognizes their sheets, of course, and with the angle of the camera--Liam plays the video again, watching as Louis laughs and turns over, looking up at the camera and grinning. Liam’s eyes dart down to Louis’ collarbone where he can now see a light, faded mark, right at the juncture of Louis’ neck and his shoulder. Liam had put that there. Liam put that there just last week, when Louis had been riding him while Liam was sitting up against the headboard. Louis had dared Liam to mark him up as much as possible so Harry would see when he came home and--fuck. _Fuck_. When did they even make this? It was probably sometime over this last week, when Liam had been gone, but--oh my god.

 

Surprisingly enough, Liam doesn’t feel betrayed or let down or anything at all. He’s just a bit annoyed that the boys haven’t mentioned the videos by now, especially when they’re fucking jacking off to _him_ in them. He doesn’t know why they wouldn’t want to tell him about them either, which is making him more annoyed, and he frowns as he closes his laptop, grabbing a tissue to clean himself off. He’s still dead tired but he doesn’t want to sleep alone tonight, even if this secret is going to keep him up all night. He pulls on some clothes and leaves his apartment, locking it behind him before unlocking Louis and Harry’s.

There’s no lights on in the main room, and it doesn’t even look like Niall’s home, which Liam is honestly a bit grateful for, because he doesn’t want to talk to anybody but Harry and Louis right now. He walks over to their door and opens it, stepping inside and--

In hindsight, Liam should have heard the noises coming from inside the bedroom, but he’d been too in his own head to pay attention to them. He also should’ve seen the sliver of light shining through the bottom of the closed door but, again, he hadn’t been paying attention. So when he opens the bedroom door and sees Harry and Louis laying naked on the bed, sheets and pillows littering the floor, thighs in between each other’s legs with Harry’s camera positioned over the two of them, all he can do is stare in shock. Everything kind of freezes for a moment, and Liam takes in how the two of them are grinding against each other’s hips, kissing deeply. Then everything speeds back up to normal as they break away and look up in surprise.

“Oh shit,” Louis mutters, and Harry sits up, reaching for the camera and turning it off.

“Liam--” he starts, and Liam just stares at them, frozen in place. They were shooting a video. They were fucking _shooting_ a _video_ and Liam was right next door, they were--

“I thought you were out,” Liam says, trying to get his breathing back to normal. “I was just going to lay here and wait for you two to come home?”

“We didn’t even know you were back yet,” Harry says, glancing at Louis. “We thought you’d just want to sleep, anyways, so--”

“Why would I ever want to sleep without you two if I had the option to sleep _with_ you two?” Liam asks, and neither of the other two men answer. Of course. Liam takes a deep breath. He doesn’t really feel heartbroken or like he’s been backstabbed or anything, it’s just--he just feels more annoyed than before. “Why didn’t either of you tell me you were doing this?”

Louis and Harry look at each other. “We--we’re just fucking around, Liam, and we would’ve told you when we’d have seen you tomorrow, obviously, because we know how much you love hearing about it.”

It’s not a lie, really, because nothing really gets Liam off more than Harry and Louis recounting their sexual exploits to him. But that’s not what this is about, and Liam is through with them not trusting him enough to tell him about the videos.

“I’m not talking about that,” he says, stepping forward and closing the door behind him, before crossing his arms across his chest. “I’m talking about the videos.”

Harry and Louis stop moving, similar expressions of shock on their faces.

“What videos?” Louis eventually tries, but Liam just rolls his eyes and scoffs.

“Give it up, Louis. I know about--I’ve _always_ known about the videos you and Harry make.” Liam shrugs. “But why couldn’t you--I mean, I’m your boyfriend now, right? Why would you keep it from me?” Liam blinks back the tears that suddenly appear at the corners of his eyes. “Why wouldn’t you trust me with this?”

Harry blinks at Liam slowly, as if he’s putting all the pieces together. “Wait, you--” he licks his lips. “You’re not mad at us?”

Liam barks out a laugh. “Why would I be mad? This is--I can’t stop you from doing this, this is your choice. I just wish you’d told me about it sooner, like when you started making videos where you were getting off to _me_ instead of just each other.”

It’s silent again before Harry speaks. “What?” he asks, and Liam blinks at him.

“Do you know how weird it is to watch them and then hear you say _my_ name? If you’re getting off to me, and then posting it for anyone to see, the least you can do is tell me about it.”

Louis licks his lips and looks at Harry, who seems to be some sort of mix between surprised and amazed. “Liam, you--you’ve watched our videos?”

And oh. That would explain their reactions. Liam blinks again, clearing his throat and growing more flustered by the second. He watches Louis size him up and then grin slowly.

“I--” Liam tries, biting his lip. He sighs, then, deciding that he should just go ahead and tell the whole story, shouldn’t he? “I found them _ages_ ago. Before I even knew the two of you. And I loved them so much, even your, uh, solo ones. And then I met Louis at the bar and he looked so familiar and I had no idea where I knew him from but it didn’t hit me until I moved and I met you two and--oh my god. Fuck, I almost died right then and there, and then--” Liam takes a deep breath, looking between Harry and Louis’ amazed expressions, “I started falling in love with you. The _both_ of you. It wasn’t even about the videos anymore, then, it was just because both of you were so amazing and such wonderful people--but I still couldn’t stop watching your videos, as weird as that sounds. And then Harry said my name in that video and--I got off to that so many times, holy shit, and then tonight--you guys had a _new_ video out, and it was--” Liam blushes. “It was amazing, obviously, but. Why wouldn’t you tell me about them? I hate saying this, because it makes me sound so entitled or whatever, but I am dating you two. I feel like I deserved to know about it, at least.”

“So,” Louis says, after a few moments. “Not only have you watched our videos, but you’ve gotten off to our videos. Several times.”

Liam nods, embarrassed. Louis _beams_.

“You’re right, Liam,” Harry says, looking ashamed. “We should’ve told you, we really should have, we just, like. We were afraid you’d make us stop and we _really_ like doing it, y’know--”

Liam shakes his head. “I wouldn’t have forced you two to do _anything_ like that--”

“Yeah, but it’s not fair, we should’ve told you, Liam, I’m _so_ sorry--”

“I should’ve said something about seeing them too, I’m just as much to blame--”

“Shut up!” Louis cries, looking between Harry and Liam. “ _God_ , it really is a good thing I’m here, isn’t it? Imagine if it was just you two. There’d just be hours of apologies and tears and no one getting their heads out of their asses.”

Liam laughs--he can’t help it--because Louis really is completely correct. He smiles. “Yeah. It’s a good thing we’ve got you here to balance us out, huh?” he says, walking over to Louis and cupping his face in his own hand. Louis blushes but just sticks his tongue out. Liam chases it back into Louis’ mouth with his own, kissing Louis thoroughly right after, crawling onto the bed and making Louis grip his shoulders for support. Liam lets Louis fall onto the bed and then goes for his throat, finding the remnants of the mark that he’d made and working at it again, determined to build it back up to what it was originally. Louis is shaking underneath him--Liam knows how much Louis likes feeling the scratch of stubble against his skin--and scratching at Liam’s back through his shirt, so Liam sits up, pulling it off. Louis reaches up for Liam’s nipple but Liam doesn’t fight it, lets Louis pinch it, hard enough that he falls forward onto his forearms, moaning into Louis’ neck.

Liam glances sideways and sees Harry watching Louis and Liam closely, but barely moving himself. Liam leans over and kisses Harry, feeling Louis move down the bed in between his legs to pull his sweats down.

“You went commando?” Louis asks, his voice going a bit high as Liam’s dick jerks up, unceremoniously hitting Louis’ chin. Louis licks his lips. Liam smirks and moves till he’s properly straddling Louis’ chest.

“Just for you,” he teases, holding his cock down so the tip just brushes against Louis’ open, waiting mouth. Liam shivers and moans as Louis wraps his arms under Liam’s thighs and pulls him forward a bit till Louis is mouthing at the head. “ _God_ , Louis,” he moans, as he moves with Louis and slides his length past Louis’ lips. Louis moans around him in response and Liam shudders, almost falling off Louis’ chest before Harry’s firm hand helps hold him in place.

“Liam,” Harry says, straddling Louis’ torso behind him and maneuvering his dick in between Liam’s ass and Louis’ chest so that every time Liam pulls out of Louis’ mouth, he’s grinding down on Harry’s hard cock, sliding up and and down the length. “Liam, what do you want?” Harry gasps, as Liam picks up his pace.   
“I want--” Liam starts, stuttering the words out and then slowing his movements down as he makes up his mind. A shiver of excitement tickles down his spine as he thinks about what he’s asking for, but-- _fuck_ , now he can’t get it out of his head.

“Liam,” Louis whines, and Liam looks down at the older man, whose cheeks are flushed, hair tousled, a look of desperation in his eyes. And who is Liam to deny him what he wants?

Liam lifts himself up slowly, hearing Louis let out a groan of annoyance, feeling Harry’s hands slide down his torso.

“I want you and Louis lying down like you were before,” Liam starts, waiting for Harry to fall off Louis’ chest before swinging himself off of Louis too. Louis grumbles but moves back to where he’d been, and then the two of them lay there, side by side, staring up at Liam obediently. Honestly, Liam could come from this alone, just watching the two of them stare at him with hooded eyes and bitten lips, but he wants to come last tonight, wants to torture the two men a little bit as punishment.

“Is the camera on?” he asks, his voice suddenly more gruff than usual, surprising even himself. Both Harry and Louis’ eyebrows raise a bit but it’s Harry who clears his throat and speaks.

“No--”

“Turn it on,” Liam commands, and sees the two men give each other a look--of what, he’s not exactly sure--but Harry reaches up and puts the camera back on. Liam watches the lens focus itself before walking over to the side table to pick up the bottle of lube that they must’ve been using before he walked in earlier. He leans down to kiss Louis before he realizes that he’s going to be on camera, but. He suddenly can’t bring himself to care, too invested in taking care of the men beneath him, who’re currently looking up at him, doe-eyed and flushed with anticipation. Liam moves over to kiss Harry afterwards, letting Louis mouth at his nipple a bit before breaking away and moving down the bed, off camera.

“Turn over,” he says, gripping Harry’s hips, and Harry’s breath hitches as he moves onto his knees, Louis watching the two of them with rapt attention. Liam grabs one of the pillows that’d been knocked down onto the carpet and slides it underneath Harry’s hips, pushing Harry down until Harry’s spread-eagle in front of Liam, open and exposed and so, _so_ gorgeous.

“Louis,” Liam says, then, and motions for Louis to move closer to Harry, which Louis does, wrapping an arm around Harry’s shoulders and pulling him into a long kiss. Louis slides one of his legs underneath one of Harry’s, helping to spread him wider. Good.

Liam lets himself listen to the slick sounds of them kissing before he moves in, pulling Harry’s asscheeks apart before giving him a slow, wet lick, right over his hole. He hears Harry cry out into Louis’ mouth and it just spurs him on, making him move faster and with more purpose. He can tell when Harry and Louis break apart because it’s easy to hear Harry’s breathy moans, the little cries he lets out as Liam nips at his rim, and the way Louis soothes him, murmuring quiet words of encouragement. Liam pulls away a bit after that, his jaw sore and chin wet, staring at the pink, raw skin of Harry’s taint. It’s mesmerizing, Liam thinks, as he runs a finger down it, pressing his nail in at the last second to hear Harry shout out in pain but buck his hips forward in pleasure. Liam really shouldn’t shave as much if this is going to be the result.

“Liam,” he hears Louis mumble, then, and looks over to Louis’ thick, flushed cock, untouched and slick with precome. Liam hums and reaches for the lube again, slicking up his hand before wrapping it around Louis’ length, tugging at Louis’ dick with slow, teasing strokes. It’s Louis’ turn to moan now, and he’s just as loud as Harry was, desperate for release but--if Liam has his way--far from it. Liam moves his hand down, then, pushing Louis’ legs apart and pressing against his entrance with a finger, gently, as if he’s asking for permission. Louis tenses up for a second but then completely lets go with a breath, and Liam slides a finger into him slowly, watching Louis tangle his fingers into Harry’s curls. He and Harry have their eyes locked and it looks like they’re having a whole conversation but the only name that comes out of their mouths is Liam’s, and that makes Liam feel warm to his core, determined to take care of these two, to make them feel good, to mark them as _his_.

Liam adds a second finger easily, and Louis accepts him in so trustingly that Liam can’t help but to lean forward, biting a kiss into Louis’ thigh, rubbing his rough cheek against it so Louis gasps, his cock bobbing in the air. Liam works them in a bit more, drizzling more lube onto his hand and then curling it up, letting his instinct guide his digits until they brush against Louis’ prostate and make the older man cry out, his hips rising off the bed. Liam moves with him through it, though, fucking his fingers in and out of Louis, making sure to brush against that spot every time. He glances over at Harry and sees him watching Louis’ face intensely. Liam doesn’t want that, he wants the two of them to be lost, mindless messes at the same time, so he gets his mouth on Harry again, not bothering to beat around the bush as he slides his tongue into the man. Harry gasps and works his hips forwards and backwards, urging Liam on, and Liam fucks Harry with his tongue in the same tempo he’s fucking Louis with his fingers. It’s exhilarating, really, and Liam’s never been this hard before for this long, but he can’t stop, can’t help but get more and more into it, especially when he forces his eyes open and sees Harry and Louis’ matching expressions of pleasure, their eyes squeezed shut, hands clasped, mouths spewing out a litany of his name.

He moves into it with even more intensity then, spurred on by their cries, practically suffocating himself between Harry’s cheeks, both his wrist and jaw aching with the effort. It’s only a few minutes later that Louis yells and orgasms, untouched, his come striping his torso, pale white against the flushed skin of his chest. His mouth stays open on a silent cry as Liam puts solid pressure on his prostate, his hips swiveling weakly as his cock jerks out more blurts of come, and Liam waits until Louis sobs his name out defeatedly before finally pulling his fingers out, moving his hand so he’s gripping Harry’s ass instead. Harry is legitimately fucking the pillow now, which is surprisingly one of the hottest things that Liam’s ever seen, and Liam pulls his tongue out of Harry, lifting his face up a bit and letting his chin rub against Harry’s rim as Harry fucks his hips back and forth. He knows it’s a bit weird, and maybe gross, too, but he doesn’t even care, especially when he hears Harry shout at the sensation, gasping at the contrasting sensations of hurt and arousal. Liam’s stubble is the perfect instrument to finally make him come, his body shaking as he moans into Louis’ skin and spills onto the pillow underneath him.

Liam sighs, finally pulling back and turning his head side to side, working out the sore muscles in his neck. He twists his wrist, too, rubbing at his jaw, before looking up to the two men on the bed, who’re staring back at him reverently.

“ _Jesus_ , Liam,” Louis whispers, obviously amazed, and Liam blushes a bit, such a juxtaposition to the dominating personality he’d had just minutes before. “Get up here.”

Liam obliges, moving to come onto the other side of Louis, but Harry and Louis part, leaving Liam no choice but to climb onto the bed and lie down in between them. Harry gets up on his elbows, still a bit shaky from his orgasm, and kicks the pillow off the bed. Liam makes a face at that but Harry doesn’t pay it any attention, pulling Liam in for a kiss, tasting himself on Liam’s lips. Liam’s face must be nasty by now but neither Harry nor Louis seem to care, kissing Liam one after the other, their hands moving in tandem as they work over Liam’s cock, thick and neglected for the past half hour.

Liam’s orgasm comes easy and effortlessly, and he’s been so turned on for so long, so lost in Harry and Louis’ mouths, that he doesn’t even notice he’s coming until it’s actually happening, his brow furrowing and shoulders rising off the mattress at the intensity of it. Someone’s finger is rubbing across his slit and someone else is massaging his balls and Liam gasps and shakes as wave after wave of his orgasm sweeps over him. By the time it’s all over Liam’s abs are sticky with come and he can barely breathe; he’s never come so hard in his _life_.

“Baby,” he hears, said sweetly and softly in his ear, as he finally comes back to reality, “baby, Liam, babe, so good--” Liam feels himself blush and someone kisses him gently. “So good, babe,” they continue, and it’s Louis, of course, pulling him in for another kiss, longer and with more tongue. Liam feels Harry nip at his ear then kiss his neck, sucking at the skin there, leaving a mark that’s probably going to be too high to cover up for work, but fuck it. Fuck it all. Liam doesn’t care about anything right now besides these two guys, and he’s never felt this loved, this safe, this _good_. He feels like he’s about to melt into the bed with how amazing he feels, and he finally sighs away from Louis’ lips and closes his eyes, all the exhaustion from the past week coupled with the two intense orgasms he’s had tonight catching up to him, and falls asleep before he can stop himself.

 

Liam wakes up with a start, sitting up so quickly that he can feel himself go lightheaded.

“Fuck,” he mumbles, breathing steadily until he’s more stable. The bed is empty, just him in it, and where are--

“Morning, sunshine,” Louis says, smiling as he steps into the bedroom. “Get enough sleep?”

“What time is it?” Liam asks, smiling back as Louis crawls onto the bed and automatically seats himself in Liam’s lap.

“Mid-afternoon. Two-ish, I think? I didn’t wake up too long ago. Harry is grocery shopping or something, I guess.”

Liam hums in acknowledgement as Louis presses a sweet, chaste kiss to his lips. “What happened last night? After, y’know--”

“After you fucking _destroyed_ me and Harry with those fucking hands and this fucking,” Louis brings a hand up, tracing at Liam’s lips, “godsend of a mouth?”

Liam laughs, blushing. “Yeah, then.”

Louis shakes his head, but he’s still smiling. “You feel asleep. Real weak move there, Payno. We had to clean you up and tuck you in and everything.”

“Good,” Liam says, pulling Louis closer. Louis is only in some soft sweatpants and an old-looking shirt, and Liam is well aware of just how naked he is under the sheets, so it’s no surprise that his dick’s suddenly interested in what’s going on. Louis must feel it too, because he raises an eyebrow.

“Already? Jesus, Liam, I’m still sore,” he chides, but laughs as Liam pulls him down and turns the two of them around before falling on top of Louis, his head on the other man’s chest. Louis coos, arms coming up to rub at Liam’s shoulders and comb through Liam’s hair. “Little puppy.”

Liam can’t help but to kiss Louis’ chest through his shirt then, and this is all so disgustingly domestic, everything that Liam’s ever wanted in a relationship. He’s not completely sure that he’s not dead. Or that this isn’t some sort of amazing dream.

Louis pinches him then, hard. “It’s not a dream, you dolt.”

Oh. Liam must have said that last part out loud. “Good,” he says again, and Louis just continues playing with his hair until they hear the front door open and close as Harry walks in.

“Louis?” he calls, walking closer to the bedroom. “Liam? Where are you--oh,” he says, as he steps into the room. Liam looks up and sees Harry biting his lip, endeared. “Look at you two,” he coos, pulling out his phone and snapping a couple of pictures before Liam or Louis have a chance to protest. “I obviously condone these activities one hundred percent, but I have frozen things I need to put away and more groceries to unload. Anybody willing to help out?”

“Nah,” Louis says, and Liam wants to keep laying here in Louis’ embrace but his conscience kicks in and he grunts, lifting himself up and pressing a kiss to Louis’ forehead before rolling out of bed and stretching his arms above his head.

“Gimme a sec to pull some clothes on,” he says, sighing, and then looks over at Harry, whose expression has changed to something with a lot more hunger in it.

Harry bites his lip. “Okay.”

Liam blushes again, pulling on some sweatpants he finds. He’s not exactly sure if they’re his, but he secretly hopes they aren’t.

“Don’t wear a shirt,” Louis commands. “Don’t do it.”

“The neighbors--” Liam tries to argue, but Louis snorts.

“ _No one_ is going to complain. I guarantee it. Harry, any objections?”

“None at all,” Harry replies, continuing to scope Liam out. “Christ, look at you,” he mutters, and Liam glances down, sees how low the sweatpants hang on him--why does this always seem to happen--and blushes, pulling the pants up and tying them in place. He ruffles Louis’ hair, laughing at the squawk the other man lets out, and then walks out of the bedroom, pulling Harry along.

“Don’t take too long,” Louis shouts from the bedroom. “We haven’t gotten a chance to sex you up enough this past week, Liam, and as soon as you get back in here, I’m fucking that smirk off your face.”

“Good lord,” Liam says, as the door to the apartment shuts behind them and him and Harry walk down the steps and into the parking lot. “The mouth on that one.”

Harry just laughs in agreement, holding the building door open for Liam, who then holds it open for a sweet older lady who lives on the first floor. She takes one look at Liam’s state of undress and smiles.

“Oh, my,” she says, coyly. “Is it my birthday already?”

Harry barks out a laugh and Liam blushes for a third time, waiting until the woman is inside before running up and smacking Harry on the ass. “I hate you.”  
Harry just laughs, opening the trunk of his car. “That’s fine. Hold your arms out,” he says, loading each of them up with umpteen shopping bags. “Is that too much?”

Liam scoffs. “Harry, you _know_ how much I bench.”

Harry rolls his eyes, picking up several bags himself, and the two of them make their way back inside and into the apartment. It only takes them five minutes to put everything away, and as soon as they’re done, Louis calls out for them from the bedroom.

“Oh, god,” Liam sighs, walking over. Harry jumps on him unexpectedly, but Liam moves along with it, holding onto his legs and giving him a piggyback ride down the hallway. They walk into the bedroom like that, and Liam almost drops Harry when he sees Louis flushed and naked on the bed, hard cock in hand.

“Did you think I was joking?” Louis asks, scowling. “C’mere and get on your fucking knees.”

Harry jumps off Liam’s back and strips down in record time, grabbing the lube right afterwards. He gives Liam a devilish smile. “Don’t fall asleep on us after this.”

“Shut up,” Liam replies, dropping trou and climbing onto the bed, letting Louis take control this time so that Liam’s underneath the other man.

“I’m gonna fuck you so hard that you won’t be able to walk properly for a _week_ ,” Louis promises, and Liam shudders in anticipation and arousal as he feels Harry’s slick fingers brush below his balls, and, well. Louis has never been one to make a promise he can’t keep.

 

\------

 

“C’mere,” Louis says, pulling Liam onto him on the bed. Liam’s _just_ gotten home from work, hasn’t even taken his tie off yet, and Harry and Louis have herded him into the bedroom, eager to show him something. He has no idea what it could be, though.

Harry squeals excitedly, bringing the laptop over to the bed.

“Wait, guys, can I at least--” Liam sighs. “Someone take my pants off, please, they’re going to get all wrinkled,” he pouts, and Harry coos lovingly and unbuttons and unzips his dress pants, sliding them off in a manner far more sexual than necessary. He folds them properly though, of course, hanging them up afterwards.

“Can we just hurry up, please?” Louis requests.

“Okay, okay,” Harry says, scrambling over to the bed, almost tripping over his own feet in excitement. He opens up his laptop, bouncing as he settles down next to Louis and Liam. Liam frowns at the black screen. He’s about to comment on the lack of content when a picture fades in from black.

At first Liam doesn’t recognize it, brow furrowing at the screen, but then he recognizes Harry and Louis’ heads, and then he recognizes the sheets, and then he finally sees how Harry’s back is facing to the camera and Louis’ chest is to it and then it hits him--

“Holy shit,” he says, his throat suddenly dry, and Louis’ palms smooth down his chest, loosening his tie and undoing a couple buttons on the top of Liam’s shirt before sliding his hands down to rub at Liam’s nipples. He watches the scene on the laptop, unable to tear his eyes away from it. “Increase the volume,” he says, and rolls his eyes at the smirk Harry gives him before complying. They recorded the video a couple weeks ago but it must have finally been posted onto the site--Liam’s learned that the videos are submitted and posted in a sort of a queue, to keep things fair on the site. He’s been wanting to watch it for so long now, but has been too embarrassed to ask for it, because he knows how much Harry and Louis would tease him for that. His stomach flutters in anticipation, as the video gets underway.

All three of them are silent as they watch Harry and Louis fall apart in Liam’s hands--Liam doesn’t even want to breathe too loudly in fear of missing a gasp or moan from the recording. It’s such a different experience to see what had happened through this point of view--not bad, just different. Still just as arousing, though, and Liam shifts his hips without thinking about it, hearing Louis’ answering hum as he rubs against the other man’s cock.

Onscreen, Harry and Louis are gasping into each other’s mouths, which Liam can only take to mean that it’s at the point where he started working the two of them at the same time. He blushes, thinking about the mindset he’d been in that night, how he’d let himself get so carried away, so _naughty_ \--

“Liam,” Harry breathes, and Liam watches Louis come, then Harry not long afterwards, and then--

Liam shows up on camera, falling down onto the sheets, kissing Harry, then Louis, then Harry, then Louis, back and forth. Liam’s never really seen himself in a position like this but it’s actually ridiculously hot to watch, how his breath hitches, how the camera cuts off what’s actually happening below his navel, only the sounds available to listen to, so it makes everything a lot more secretive and intense and _sexy_. Liam watches himself fall apart at the hands of these two men, sees himself frown in concentration and then watches himself orgasm, and he’s never actually seen his face when he does it, but he looks so _open_ , so relaxed. Liam gasps and moans on camera and his cock twitches at the sound--he’s turned on by himself, how narcissistic can you get--and then it’s over, Liam falling back on the sheets, his blissed-out expression the last thing you see before the screen fades back to black.

“Wow,” Liam says, after a minute or two of silence, and lets out a shaky sigh. “That was--”

Louis growls, actually fucking _growls_ , and tugs at Liam’s shirt, prompting Liam to unbutton it fast and pull it off himself. Harry closes the laptop and slides it onto the floor as Louis moves from behind Liam and into his lap, using his tie to pull him up into a sitting position and a kiss.

“Liam goddamn Payne,” Louis mutters, nipping at Liam’s lips. Liam hears Harry giggle and lean into him from behind, kissing up his neck.

“How in the world did we get this lucky?” he asks, and Liam shivers as goosebumps break out over his skin.

“I love you,” he says, and he only needs to say it once, because they all know that he’s talking to the both of them. Harry tilts his head back for another kiss and Louis strips himself off before grinding against Liam’s clothed cock, making Liam gasp in surprise.

“Prove it,” he says, and Liam feels that flare of competition within him light up, surging through his veins as he bites at Harry’s lip and then looks down at Louis, a glint in his eyes.

 

\------

**Epilogue**

\------

 

Liam is nervous. Actually, that’s an understatement. He’s never been this nervous before in his life, and he’s sweating through his shirt underneath his blazer.

Coming out to Zayn and Niall about the relationship had been easy--Zayn had known about this whole thing from the get go, of course, and Niall hadn’t really given a shit, so long as he still had somewhere to live. So, of course, Liam and Niall had permanently switched apartments, with Liam fitting himself into Harry and Louis’ room, using Niall’s old room as an office and storage space. It was actually really great, because he could work from home every other day, meaning he got to spend more time with the boys, and he was able to finally buy them a _humongous_ bed, so big that it was more than easy to fit all three of them in it comfortably. Not that it mattered, really, as Liam found out a few weeks in, since they all went to bed and woke up tangled up in each other’s arms anyway.

It’s been more than great--it really has been mind-numbingly amazing. Liam almost feels bad because he’s constantly worried about something going wrong, but Harry and Louis are so perceptive and always pick up on his nervous glances or the dimple in between his eyebrows that only shows up when he’s frowning. They’re carefree, moving along in this with so much faith, much more faith than Liam has, though all he wants is to just enjoy what he has right now. Which is why he’s doing what he’s doing, because it might--well, he hopes it’ll set his mind a little more at ease.

He’s been waiting at the park for about fifteen minutes when Harry and Louis show up--it’s close to sunset, and Liam can see the two of them walking over to where he’s sitting on their favorite bench in the dimming light. Hand-in-hand, they’re bickering, probably, Harry with his teasing smirk on, Louis with that lighthearted frown. They’re so in love, and they look it too, and for a moment Liam dives back into the mindset he’d had around the time when he’d just met them and debates just running out of sight, letting Harry and Louis be in love without him, happy to just watch them be happy together.

But then Louis finally notices him and Liam sees Louis’ face light up in that smile he only gets when Liam’s around, and Harry sees him too, grinning, still a bit shy, always blushing when he greets Liam, as if he’s amazed that he gets to call Liam his.

“Race you!” Louis shouts, loud enough for Liam to hear, and takes off, leaving Harry confused, but only for a moment--Harry yells and follows Louis right after. Harry’s a fast runner, he jogs almost every day, but Louis has played soccer since he was a kid, though his stamina isn't as amazing, so they’re kind of tied as they barrel towards Liam. It’s only at the last second that Liam realizes that they’re planning on tackling him to the ground and right now he’s on a very hard bench on top of very hard concrete and that he should try to get onto a soft surface so that none of them get a concussion. He bolts out of the seat and runs over to the grass behind him, and not a second too late, because that’s when he feels Harry and Louis crash into him and knock him onto the ground. Well, Louis mostly. Harry waits until they’re laying down before gently getting onto his knees and then wrapping the two of them in a hug.

Liam realizes he’s been smiling this whole time and then he can’t help but smile wider, looking at the two pink-cheeked, out-of-breath men next to him.

“Hello,” he says, and Louis leans forward, giving Liam a thorough kiss.

“Hello,” Louis mimics, when he pulls away, still panting.

“Hello?” Harry asks, and Liam laughs, turning to him and kissing him too, biting at his lip playfully when they pull apart.

“Is it me you’re looking for?” Liam finishes, and Harry grins so wide that Liam can’t help but poke him in his dimple. Louis eyes Liam’s outfit.

“I didn’t know there was a dress code for this park,” he comments, and Liam rolls his eyes, then widens them as he realizes that he’s on the grass.

“Shit, my blazer!” he cries out, scrambling to stand up, brushing the dirt off his jacket before looking down at the two men. Harry looks endeared but Louis looks unamused.

“Really, Payno?” Louis asks, but Liam holds a hand out to help pull him up. He stands his ground just in case Louis tries to pull him back down again--which he does, of course, but Liam is prepared for it, and just smirks at Louis’ scowl--and helps Louis up, then Harry.

“I have a surprise for you guys,” Liam admits, and Harry’s eyes widen.

“I love surprises,” he says, and Liam laughs.

“I know.”

 

Renting the gazebo hadn’t been cheap, but it looks out over the lake and it’s a beautiful view, especially with the sun setting over the water. Liam had--with Zayn and Niall’s help, of course--wrapped the whole structure in fairy lights and set out several bouquets of various flowers so the whole place looked and smelled beautiful.

“Liam--” Harry says, as soon as he steps in, breathless. His eyes are shining with the lights and he looks absolutely amazed. Louis looks a bit apprehensive at first, for some reason, glancing around, but he gets more comfortable when he actually sits down, smirking at the decorations.

“It’s a bit tacky, isn’t it?” he says, and Harry smacks him on the shoulder, frowning.

“You can leave if you don’t like it, Louis,” he scolds him. Harry turns to Liam, beaming. “ _I_ think it’s wonderful.”

“Good,” Liam says, as Louis sticks his tongue out at Harry. He clears his throat, rubbing his hands down his thighs. “So,” he starts, and Harry and Louis look at him, expectantly.

“Harry,” Liam begins, smiling. “I-- _god_ , I can’t begin to describe how happy I am to be a part of your life, y’know?”

Harry beams and Louis smirks, elbowing Harry in the side. “Likewise,” Harry says, and Liam grins back at him.

“And this is--I know this might be cheesy, or over-the-top, but I know that _you’re_ a bit cheesy and over-the-top, so this is what I wanted, to um--to set up, because everything in here reminds me of you, the lights and how bright they are, how the twinkling reminds me of your eyes--fuck, that sounds so bad when it’s said out loud, I’m sorry, um--the flowers, because you’re my--my--” Liam’s breath hitches, and he can feel himself tearing up, which he’d never intended to happen, but he just bites his lip and smiles, his heart overflowing with gratefulness and adoration as he reaches over and holds Harry’s hand. Harry looks confused but of course he’s tearing up as well, and Louis’ eyes are wide and knowing, so Liam gives him a thankful look for not giving away what Liam’s about to do.

“Everything about you is like a flower to me, Harry,” Liam continues. “Which I know sounds really weird, and also like the world’s strangest simile, but it’s true. You’re a flower, and you just--you bloom around me, y’know? And you make me feel like the sun, and all I want to do is keep you warm, and keep you safe, and keep you with me...so...”

Liam lets out a shaky breath, moving off the bench and onto one knee on the gazebo floor, reaching inside his jacket pocket for the soft velvet box he’d dropped in there hours earlier. He chances a glance over at Louis, who’s still sitting there, shocked, hand over his mouth, but tears in his eyes as well. Louis has Harry’s other hand, gripping it so tight that both their knuckles are white, and when Liam looks up at Harry, he’s not surprised to see the other man a blubbering mess already, his cheeks shiny with tears, nose pink and sniffling. God, he’s still so beautiful. So, _so_ beautiful.

“I know we can’t really--right now, getting married isn’t really going to be something we can do, the three of us. So this is more of a promise ring, of sorts. It’s a promise that I love you now, and that I’ll always love you no matter what, and that the day that we can finally all get married, it’s going to become an engagement ring, and you’re going to be my fiancé.”

Liam slips his hand out of Harry’s and opens up the box, Harry letting out a sob at the ring. Liam had tried not to go too crazy with them, and had kept himself on a budget, but he hadn’t been able to resist getting this one for Harry, a [gorgeous tri-color gold rope braid](http://www.weddingbanduniverse.com/9mm-tri-color-rope-braid-on-white-gold-braided-wedding-ring.php) that he knew the other man would be wild about.

“So this is me, asking you if you’ll let me make that promise to you, Harry, that one day, hopefully not too far from now, you’ll be my husband.”

“Yes, Liam,” Harry gasps out immediately, his voice shaking as he wipes at his eyes with his sleeve. “Yes, yes, a million times over, oh my god.”

Liam takes Harry’s hand and then slides the ring onto his finger. It’s heavy and solid and such a permanent mark of their love and Liam can’t help but beam, finally standing up and pulling Harry into a kiss in one fluid move.

“I’m all gross,” Harry protests, pulling away and sniffling. Liam reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small pack of tissues, handing one to Harry, who laughs and takes it, wiping his eyes and blowing his nose. “Thanks.”  
Liam just kisses him in reply, lets himself get lost in the kiss for a bit, until Harry’s breath is no longer hitching and his eyes are dry.

“You good?” he asks, and Harry gives him a slow smile.

“I love you,” Harry says, biting his lip. Liam grins.

“I love you too. And don’t think you’re getting out of this, Louis--” Liam says, turning around to look at the other man, but. The gazebo is empty. “Shit.”

“Where’d he go?” Harry asks, looking around, but Liam just shakes his head.

“Damnit, I _knew_ I should’ve done his first, but I needed more time--”

“What are you--” Harry starts, then his eyes widen. “Oh. Shit, obviously you were gonna propose to him too, I have no idea why I got surprised, sorry, there’s no way you would’ve just done this for one of us--”

“Yeah, but you know how Louis is, Harry. What’s _he_ gonna think?” Liam asks, and then waits for Harry to get it.

“Fuck,” Harry runs a hand through his hair. “I thought he would’ve been past this, why would he think like that again?”

“This is a _big_ step, Harry. Something this huge, with me doing this first with you, obviously it must have--” Liam takes a deep breath. “We have to find him.”

 

Finding Louis proves to be easier said than done. He doesn’t pick up his phone, of course, and Liam is absolutely shitting his pants in worry. The best case is that Louis is probably just sulking somewhere, probably still in the park, ready to punch Liam when he sees him. The worst case--well, Liam doesn’t really want to think of that right now, because he’s got a bar full of people waiting on him to show up with his boyfriends.

And it’s right then that he literally stops in his tracks, realization sweeping over him. Harry looks at him, confused.

“The bar,” Liam says, and Harry groans at how obvious it had been, the two of them jogging over to where their cars are parked. Louis has taken Harry’s, of course, so Liam and Harry get into Liam’s car and zoom over. Liam’s never driven this recklessly before but even Harry’s not complaining, the two of them just so consumed with worry. It’s not till they pull up at the bar and see Harry’s car parked in the lot that they finally breathe out a sigh of relief.

“Listen,” Liam says, as Harry unbuckles his seatbelt and moves to get out of the car, “I’m sorry that all this has, like, taken away from your moment and everything. I never meant for this night to end up like this, I just wanted us all to be happy--”  
“Liam,” Harry interrupts, leaning forward to give him a slow, warm kiss. He’s smiling when he pulls away. “I had my moment. It was there, in the gazebo, with you. I don’t need anything else, and you know that.”

Liam nods, swallowing back tears as he gets out of the car himself. He walks into the bar, Harry right behind him. When he opens the door, every single person looks to see who’s walked in. It’d be really unnerving if Liam didn’t know all the people in the bar. This had been a part of the whole plan, of course, and Liam makes a beeline for Louis when he sees the man sitting on a stool in the front, a beer in front of him.

“Hello,” Liam says, sitting down next to Louis, who doesn’t respond. Harry sits on the other side of Louis and stays silent too. Liam flags down the bartender. “Bressie, can Harry and I have the same?”

Bressie nods, pulling out two more beers and popping the caps off, setting them in front of Harry and Liam. Liam takes a long pull of the beer before setting it down and clearing his throat.

“Louis,” he starts, but Louis shakes his head, and it’s only when he turns to look at Liam that Liam feels his stomach fall.

Louis looks _heartbroken_. His eyes are red from crying, his hair’s all messy, and he looks like he’s trying his hardest not to cry again.

“Why are you here?” he asks, and Liam frowns at him.

“Why wouldn’t I be here?”

“You should be off, celebrating with Harry,” Louis answers, and Harry scoffs.

“Why would we ever celebrate anything, let alone something like that, without you?” Harry asks, and Louis doesn’t have an answer.

“Look, I just need some space, I--” Louis sighs. “Can you two just leave?”

Liam laughs, amazed at how thick Louis is being. “No,” he says, and it’s the first time he’s really stood up to Louis like this, who looks floored.

“What the fuck,” Louis says, and Liam grins at him, endeared.

“Louis,” he starts, “didn’t you think it was a bit weird, when you walked in here, that you knew _every_ _single_ _person_ in this bar?”

Louis frowns, looking around. His expression changes to one of confusion. “What--”

“Do you know how hard it is to get these many people in one place at one time? To get them to learn a song, to choreograph a dance? Proposing is hard work.”

Louis’ eyes widen. “Liam, what--”

Liam grins at Louis, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “You can thank Harry for the song.”

Louis turns to Harry, who looks as confused as he does. “I have no idea what he’s talking about,” Harry says, but Liam winks at him, stepping up to the small stage in the corner of the bar, where Niall’s waiting with a guitar. He plucks out the first few notes and Liam watches Harry recognize the music before breaking into a huge grin.

“Harry,” Louis says, “what the hell is going on?”

Harry doesn’t say a word, though, shaking his head at Liam adoringly before pulling Louis off of the bar stool to stand in front of the stage.

“ _You don’t understand, you don’t understand_ ,” Liam sings, “ _what you do to me when you hold his hand_.”

Louis watches Liam, his face expressionless. Liam knows Louis doesn’t know this song but Harry looks like he’s about to burst at the seams with excitement. He’d played this song for Liam not too long after they’d started dating, claiming he’d written it after he’d overheard Liam and Louis together that one night, but he’d been so conflicted because he hadn’t known which one of them he was singing the song to and exactly who he’d been jealous of. It makes much more sense now, of course, and Liam’s changed the lyrics a bit to fit their present situation.

“ _We were meant to be, and a twist of fate made it so you didn’t walk away_ ,” Liam smiles. “ _‘Cause we’re on fire, we are on fire, we’re on fire now; yeah we’re on fire, we are on fire, we’re on fire now_ ,” he continues, jumping off the stage and running up to Louis, cupping his face in his free hand, his other still holding the microphone.

“ _One, two, three_!” Niall shouts from behind him.

“ _I don’t care what people say when we’re together_ ,” Liam belts out, with the rest of the bar singing along. Harry’s by his side, looking utterly delighted. Louis still looks shocked but he’s tearing up and Liam can tell he’s fighting a smile, because he hates to be proven wrong and that’s exactly what Liam’s doing right now. “ _You know we wanna be the ones who hold you when you sleep_ ,” Liam pulls Harry closer, holding the mic in front of him, and Harry knows exactly what to sing, bless his soul.

“ _We just want it to be you and us forever_ ,” Harry croons, and Liam beams.

“ _I know you tried to leave, but c’mon, Louis, be with me so happily_ ,” Liam finishes. Louis reaches out and smacks him on the shoulder, but he’s grinning now.

“This is _ridiculous_ ,” he says, hitting Liam again. “This is ridiculous and cheesy and the worst,” he adds, though he’s smiling like a little kid, obviously enjoying every second of this. “It’s awful. I hate it. I hate you,” Louis says, and then turns to Harry, punching him in the shoulder too. “And you too.”

Liam laughs, pulling Louis in for a long kiss, the surrounding crowd letting out loud cheers. He breaks away, a thumb gently tracing Louis’ cheek, before getting down on one knee and pulling out the smooth wooden box from his coat pocket. Harry has the mic now, and he runs on the stage, motioning for Niall to skip forward in the song.

“ _Oh, oh, oh, whoa-oh oh oh, we’re on fire now_...sing it!” he shouts, and the entire bar sings along, stomping to the beat of the lyrics. The floor is shaking, Liam can feel it underneath him, but he can’t look anywhere but at Louis’ face, filled with joy and relief. Liam opens up the box, smirking at how Louis’ breath catches at the [ hammered white gold band](http://www.weddingbanduniverse.com/white-gold-wedding-band-with-a-hammered-finish-center.php). It’s simple but it’s very Louis, regardless of how much he might deny it. It’s suddenly silent in the bar, everyone quiet and holding their breath as Louis looks down at Liam and the ring. Liam hopes his expression is conveying just how much love he has for Louis, how much he wants this with Louis and Harry, how much they mean to him, how he wouldn’t trade them for anything else.

It must, because Louis starts nodding, slowly at first, then faster and faster until he laughs out a sob as Liam slips the ring on his hand and stands up, kissing him once again.

Liam smiles as he pulls away, brushing his thumbs over Louis’ wet cheeks. “No such things as second choices.”

Louis’ eyes well up with tears again, but he nods once more, pulling Liam into a tight hug.

“ _I don’t care…_ ” Harry continues to sing in the background, as everyone around them sings the chorus loudly. Liam breaks away from Louis and the two of them turn to look at Harry at the same time, who’s beaming down at them proudly. Louis’ face is streaked with the tears he wasn’t able to hold back, but he’s biting his lip, staring up at Harry adoringly, safe in Liam’s arms. Liam’s never felt his heart so full of love and he watches as Harry holds the mic up once again.

“ _You know we’ll never leave, so c’mon, baby, be with us so happily_.”

 

\------

**Author's Note:**

> I really hoped you enjoyed the fic! Like I said, I had such a great time writing it and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out :)
> 
> Feel free to hit me up on [Tumblr](http://slashter.tumblr.com) and [Twitter](http://twitter.com/slashter_fic)!!!
> 
> [ **NOTE (cont'd):** BeautifulAgony is a website where users (both solo and in groups, all 18 or older) can upload videos of themselves having sex/masturbating. All videos are uploaded with full permission and consent of the people involved in them, and users on the website pay for a membership to watch said videos. People who make videos earn money from other people watching them, so views are encouraged. All videos feature (at the most) angles from the navel up--none of them actually show any genitalia. The point of this is to focus more on the facial expressions of the people and the sounds and the emotions behind their pleasure rather than just looking at the actual sexual act itself. I’d highly suggest checking it out if you’re interested and able to, just to understand it better! It is very NSFW, though, as mentioned.]
> 
> [Harry’s ring](http://www.weddingbanduniverse.com/9mm-tri-color-rope-braid-on-white-gold-braided-wedding-ring.php); [Louis’ ring](http://www.weddingbanduniverse.com/white-gold-wedding-band-with-a-hammered-finish-center.php)


End file.
